From this shop to the internet

This is a photo of the interior of Palmer Bros Jewelry in Baker City, Oregon, the shop where the crystal drop earrings I just listed were originally sold. I wonder if one of these fellows (or maybe the woman in the back) made the sale? The original box is nearly as desirable as the earrings inside. I found these earrings almost three years ago when I first posted about them. What a special pair!

Shop photo via

Gatsby-era earrings

Actress Mary Nolan

Some 1920s earrings in my personal collection

NEW IN THE SHOP ▴ Faux pearl flapper drops ▴ Czech glass 1920s drops

Short hair and long earrings go together. We see this for the first time in the 1920s when bobbed-haired flappers wore earrings dripping with rhinestones and pearls, sometimes reaching almost to their shoulders. Just as with sautoir necklaces and the heavily beaded chiffon dresses of the era, the more the earrings could *jump* and move while worn - and especially while dancing - the better.

I've just stocked two new pairs of flapper-era earrings in the shop, both of which could be very pretty on a bride!

P.S. I almost dropped my best pair of 1920s earrings down the bathroom sink once. You can see the play-by-play of that incident right here.

A pretty bride with vintage earrings - what more could you ask for?

The ultimate, ultimate joy for me as the owner of Jean Jean Vintage is when I get to send a piece of jewelry off to a wedding. Most recently I got to send this pair of frosted glass earrings off to a bride-to-be named Lauren (@ellednyc on Twitter). The note that she sent with her order was, "I'll be wearing these beauties for my elopement next month." As if that wasn't enough to make my day, I later learned that she was set to marry the beautiful Shani in The City of Lights! Joy overload.

When I saw their photos from Paris, first on Dear Golden's blog and then in a few follow up shots kindly sent by Lauren, I was so moved. To think that my little Jean Jean earrings - rescued from a dusty shoebox in Iowa - were a small part of their big day makes me so grateful. Grateful for vintage. Grateful for girls who wear vintage. Grateful for celebrations of love. Thank you, Lauren and Shani!

Photo credit: Lauren Cooper 

One is the loneliest number

 

When I find singleton earrings, I almost always buy them. Why I do this, I do not know. I guess I feel like one pretty thing is still really nice, even if two would be better. Here are three supremely lovely, lonely earrings in my collection right now.

I'll see you here bright and early tomorrow for a sea-themed shop update!

This really happened to me on Saturday

 

 

 

 

 

 

The moral of this story? Never fix your hair in the bathroom over an open drain when you are wearing the most beautiful pair of antique earrings that you own. If you do drop one in the drain, pray that it gets stuck halfway and pray that your husband has a headlamp. Then find your tweezers and try to rescue that sweet earring from the terrible, terrible drain. If you succeed, celebrate by putting the earring on again and screwing it on extra tight. Then wear the earrings all day and enjoy the feeling of having narrowly avoided a small disaster. The end.

Red, green, waterfall

Art Deco earrings, ca. 1920 | Platinum, coral, diamonds, enamel

Tiffany & Company Art Nouveau jadeite pendant earrings, ca. 1915 | 18K gold, jadeite

Waterfall chandelier earrings, ca. 1860 | 18K gold, natural pearls, diamonds

Just. So. Beautiful.

Images courtesy of Macklowe Gallery

I need a chair

I need a chair to sit in while I look at these earrings. Can you believe they are from the 1870s? That is so much earlier than I would have supposed. Just imagine this Victorian jeweler saying to his colleague on the Friday walk home, "This next week I fancy I'll take a break from mourning jewelry and fashion some whimsical bird nest earrings with bitty eggs in them." Fantastic!

Images courtesy of The Three Graces.

Get these two a room

They obviously want to be together!

Jean Jean trip | earrings

1. 1950s LA MOUCHE earrings 2. 1920s crystal drop earrings
3. 1920s Czech style earrings with rose cut citrine glass
4. 1950s BABY BLUE earrings 5. 1950s pavé set rhinestone clips
6. 1960s silver calla lily earrings
7. 1910s Czech earrings w/faceted glass and faux seed pearls
8. 1980s faux pearl and rhinestone costume earrings
9. 1960s ARC EN CIEL earrings