Vintage Jewelry: Buying and Selling
Vintage jewelry is not a business that is immediately profitable. You will need a lot of information and hard work to make it a success. The best place to start is by buying a vintage jewelry lot from an estate that has not been touched by a dealer at auction houses.
You will get a lot of rubbish in the mix but can always find a few treasures. Prices will be reasonable and lots can be large which increases the size of your collection rapidly. As well as auction houses, there are many auction websites that offer jewelry lots.
These are sold in categories, for example Art Nouveau and Art Deco (1895 – 1935), Victorian and Edwardian (1837-1910), Georgian (before 1837). It is a good idea to focus on what you are passionate about, what your own jewelry style is, and what you are sure you will have a clientele for. Another way to get started is by shopping at private garage sales, flea markets and second-hand shops which will give you access to a more personal way of building your vintage costume jewelry supply. Prices can be steep so keep an eye on them.
It is highly unlikely that the stall-owner would have missed a piece of valuable antique vintage jewelry. Don’t expect to find a special piece 
for less because it would have been already removed from the common box and put on a special shelf or sold. True bargains are hard to come by and if you would like to make a profit out of selling vintage jewelry you may but it is very unlikely.
As you gain experience you will find that many shops sell the same range at a fairly standard price and you will be able to pick and choose amongst these to get the most original and unusual pieces. Another method is to build up a very large collection of a variety of the same kind of jewelry. You might specialize in vintage rhinestone jewelry or choose a category like vintage bridal jewelry. It’s important to read up about the period or style that you’re interested in as much as possible as you must be able to identify the marks used by designers and manufacturers in a particular period.
This applies to the particular style of jewelry that you want but also to gold and silver jewelry in general. You cannot ask the stall-owner for advice, as they will be on the look-out for their own bargains. You must be able to identify pieces by yourself and be able to make logical deductions as to whether the marks are the real thing or imitations.
Items that are clearly marked will usually bring in a higher resale value. Much of the vintage jewelry that was made by smaller independent artists is not marked and not all gold and silver is marked either. A magnet can help by identifying what is not silver – it will be magnetic, but with gold your experience and the markings are the only things to go on. Vintage jewelry is very individual; much of it is really rare and still looks fabulous because of the excellent work and materials used.
Photo: Sherry’s Rose Cottage
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Tags: antique jewelry > costume jewelry > jewelry > jewelry business > vintage fine jewelry > Vintage Jewelry
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