By Lisa Hix — Estate jewelry might sound like a stuffy topic, but not in the hands of jewelry historian Monica McLaughlin. Every so often, she unearths the most breathtaking, bizarre, and unbelievably intricate works of antique fine jewelry that are up for sale for her column at The Hairpin. The images alone will make you do a double-take. As in, “Is that ring really set with a glass eye?” or “Are those actually taxidermied hummingbird heads on those earrings?” "I’m terrified I’m going to break...

Treasures of the Incomparable Pforzheim Jewelry Museum

By Agram.m — Recently, I visited the Schmuckmuseum in Pforzheim, Germany (see slideshow below), which is the world’s only museum devoted entirely to jewelry (the translation of Schmuckmuseum from German to English is ‘jewelry museum’). The jewelry tradition in Pforzheim goes back to 1767, when Karl Friedrich, the Grand Duke of Baden, gave his blessing to the jewelry and watchmaking trades. The core of the Schmuckmuseum’s collection was amassed in the late 19th century by the Groβherzoglich-Badische...

'Roadshow' Appraiser Shares How She Assesses Turn-of-the-Century Jewelry

By Maribeth Keane and Brad Quinn — I bought my first piece of jewelry—a gold ring with a big lapis stone propped on prongs—when I was about 12 with money my grandfather gave me. Then, as a teenager, I worked in my aunt’s jewelry store in New Jersey during the Christmas season. I actually wanted to be a professional opera singer, but I realized I wasn’t going to become Renata Tebaldi. So I went back to school for three years, to the New York School of Interior Design. It was great fun, but I didn’t want to be a...

Elyse Karlin on the Beautifully Unrefined Origins of Arts & Crafts Jewelry

By Maribeth Keane and Brad Quinn — I started collecting jewelry when I was about 13 years old. I was very close to an interior designer who took me to antiques shops. While she looked for paintings and objects for her clients, I gravitated toward the jewelry counter. I started asking questions and buying little pieces for $10, $12, and it turned out I had a good eye. I was pretty much self-taught because up until the last 20 years or so in this country, you had to talk to dealers to learn about jewelry. Although, I started...

Jewelry as Sculpture: The Birth of Modernist Studio Jewelry

By Maribeth Keane and Jessica Lewis — My background is in fine art. My B.A. was in Art Education, so I started out as an art teacher. Later, I began working on a master’s degree in art valuation and started working for galleries. I enjoyed that side of it, the collecting and the sales, the gallery experience. I wasn’t really into jewelry, but we moved to Alexandria, Virginia and I worked for a gallery there called Silverman Galleries on North Saint Asaph Street. I was their art historian, and they had lots of jewelry, mostly...

Christie Romero on Differences Between Fine and Costume Jewelry Over the Decades

By Maribeth Keane and Jessica Lewis — I started out with general antiques and collectibles... I was a dealer for a while and bought and sold all kinds of things. Gradually jewelry became my focus. In the mid-1980s I started getting serious, and in 1988 I started teaching small classes, workshops, and seminars, primarily on costume jewelry but also some fine jewelry. Vintage costume jewelry was just beginning to take off as a collectible. Up until that time, most people thought it was junk. They didn’t understand what it was...