Bling's the Thing

Bling’s the Thing

One’s formative years are exactly that, years that shape you.  With that as a given, I must confess that my formative years in the jewelry business (more than 55 years ago!) were colored by a certain contempt for costume jewelry.  It was gold plated stuff that, at cost, sold at prices like ‘$13.75/dozen’; that is, each piece cost just a bit more than a dollar.  My boss hoped to sell half of it at his regular retail mark-up for such merchandise and then close out the balance for half or less of the retail price.  Anything that survived the sale would be, quite literally, scrapped.  Given the fact that I was being paid fifty cents an hour, the idea of throwing away stuff he’d paid good money for horrified me; yet I could see the sense to it.  It was, after all, often referred to in the trade as ‘junk jewelry’, stuff that could easily be discarded.  It is equally understandable, however, that as I grew into ownership I would avoid being involved in jewelry of such dubious value.  Give me gold, silver, platinum and real gems; that’s the stuff!  So you can imagine my puzzlement when I learned that there are people who collect and value jewelry that I had participated in throwing away half a century ago.

I was, for example, stunned to learn that there was a market for the bakelite jewelry manufactured during World War II.  The boss of my youth had held on to some of it for eight years after the war’s end, frugal Czech that he was; but even he reached the point where he scratched his head and could see no reason to save it from the trash can.  It had no intrinsic value and no one wanted to buy it; why give it valuable space?  Yet today, I’m told, a very tall former governor of Illinois collects the stuff and will pay a pretty penny for some of it.  Who knew?  Then there are the gold plated cuff links we had in for a recent estate sale.  Fifty years ago I bought a pair like it in a men’s store (and better looking, I think) for $5.00.  I still have them and I would have to say that they are valueless.  The pair that arrived for our estate show, however, had belonged to Bob Hope; and apparently his fame had rubbed off on them to the tune of a couple of hundred dollars.  I scratched my head in bewilderment at that.  Certainly, their perceived value would dissipate as the late Mr. Hope became just a faint whisper in history; but perhaps therein lie the tales that impel people to collect.  It’s romance.  I will guess that somehow bakelite jewelry has some emotional meaning to those who collect it (association with what is perceived as an heroic age in our history?); while Bob Hope’s jewelry may have nostalgic significance for those who value it.  At any rate, I’ve been drawn up short, again, on the subject of costume jewelry.

It seems that a London auction house, Drewatts, on October 10, 2011, sold a large collection of the late Duchess of Windsor’s costume jewelry.  While the Duchess had a large collection of ‘real’ jewelry, the Financial Times recently quoted her as saying (in 1937, the year following her failure to make the cut as next queen of England), “I hate to admit it, but I am absolutely fascinated by fake jewellery at the moment; I think it is so good.”  The pieces sold at auction included a ‘body-sculpture’ necklace of truly regal proportions; that is, a faux Middle-Eastern style necklace that, as it extends from neck to navel, is nearly a garment.  I can’t say what it must have cost in 1937 nor what its value as a new piece of jewelry might be today; but Drewatts sold it off for close to $5,000 at auction.  I’m mind blown; but James Nicholson, Drewatts, authority on jewelry, observed that “Royal memorabilia is in a different category.  It’s the association with a woman known for her style and her jewellery.”  “Anything to do with the duke and the duchess will help”  (make a sale), Nicholson observed, “Magical names bring people out.”   I’m sure he’s right; but as for me, I’m still skeptical about the real value of anything that’s not ‘real’.

Of course, my prejudices reflect itself in our jewelry.  I just can’t see jewelry that is the first thing to turn green in the spring; so ours is real gold, real platinum and real silver.  Our gems are both real and gorgeous; and we pride ourselves, in particular, on our diamonds, which we hand selected for their beauty - very real and lasting ‘bling.’  Our diamond prices are ‘market’ (just like lobster) so we’re quite competitive.  And of course, we do our very best to tightly control the quality of all that we offer since we believe that, with the careful wear a piece of fine jewelry deserves, our goods should be able to last you for the rest of your life.  Check out our jewelry collection on line at hurstsberwynjewelers.com; then phone us for an appointment to select your perfect piece of jewelry.  We’re Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers; and our greatest pleasure is fulfilling your dreams.  Oh!  When you come, bring your sunglasses.  Some people find looking at real ‘bling’ hard on their eyes.