Beautiful backsides

The mid 1920s through the 1930s was a great time for bling. This was the era of the cocktail ring - large rings with showy stones, long faces, enamel and marcasite accents, etc. One thing I love about rings of this period are their backsides. Art Deco rings - real and costume - will usually have a roomy/puffy galleries, often decoratively engraved with geometric designs. Here are some pictures of the real thing (courtesy of A. Brandt and Son Antique and Estate Jewelry) as well as two pretty costume versions available at Jean Jean Vintage (the red and sterling ring is coming to the shop this afternoon!)

Who can resist

Who can resist a stern looking man with sad eyes and a superb mustache? This fine fellow, framed safely in his Victorian photo pin, just made a grand entrance in the shop where he is stealing the show.

Golden State headquarters

Jean Jean Vintage is comfortably settled in California now. The new headquarters are dangerously close to a number of purveyors of fine coffees, breads and cheeses. It is so easy to pop out for a treat in the morning/afternoon/evening. I might need one of you to monitor my movements via GPS for the next few months.

Have you ever?

Have you ever seen a fossilized Victorian beetle ring? Did you even know such a thing existed? I did not. Read more about it here.

Photographs courtesy of A. Brandt and Son.

Last leg

After almost three weeks on the road, Mr. Jean Jean Vintage and I are about to arrive in our new (temporary) digs. These last few days the driving has been spectacular. We especially enjoyed a little side trip we took into the Colorado National Monument yesterday. Although most of the park road was closed for the winter, we were still able to see a lot. There are trails all around the park and we are planning to hike a few on our way back through the area this summer. The colors will be very different then . . . I can't imagine they will be more beautiful than they are right now.

A lotta lockets

It has been a good couple of weeks for locket hunting in these parts - I've found a little bit of everything!

Weekend stocking

Here's what I put in the shop this weekend. More listings to come ce soir!

Bookish jewelry

My friend Darin sent me a link to a company called Littlefly that makes jewelry from laminated book pages. The jewelry is colorful, shapely and basically unrecognizable as text, which I like. The jeweler Jeremy May stocks a certain variety of titles/pieces in his online shop but you can also have a piece custom made for you out of any book that you choose. He makes your ring and then gives it back to you inside the book, in the little space he "excavated" to make the ring. The book is the jewelry box and also the material source. The whole things gives me goosebumps. What book would you like to wear on your finger?

Je ne sais quoi

This necklace I listed last night is awesome in the biblical sense of the word. As in "impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration, apprehension or fear." Having it in my jewelry box these last few months has been like babysitting an exotic pet, like a jungle cat or something! I love it and part of me really wants to keep it but it also seriously intimidates me. I don't believe in powers of stones and stuff but this necklace has definitely got a certain je ne sais quoi.

Natural History

The Natural History Museum on the KU campus in Lawrence, Kansas is one of my favorite places. The basement level is the best. That is where all of the fossils are. The walls are blue and the whole set up makes you feel like you are seven years old on a school trip in the late 1970s. Strangely, I get the same excited feeling looking at fossils as I do looking at antique jewelry . . .

These things, too

Hey guess what? I've decided to sell little purses, pouches and other small things that close with a snap or a zip on Jean Jean Vintage. I love them and I think other girls might, too. There is a small section in the shop now for these pretty little things, with many, many more to come!