In the world of Ebay reseller it is always something. This week it was truly something, as my sister found a box of old junk jewelry at an auction. Same as she does almost weekly, where I take the contents, categorize them, and prepare pieces for sale. Who knew my interest in costume jewelry would ever be called upon in this way, just goes to show education is a great thing. But this weeks jewelry, even though it looked rather mundane at first glance ended up being a true treasure trove. These two small odd looking pieces are actually Victorian Mourning Jewelry fashioned out of woven hair. Yes it seems morbid, but the Edwardians had a completely different view of death than we do, since most often it was right in their parlour. They didn't have photographs to remember the deceased as we do, so this craft was born. This set is exceedingly rare, as it is formed into heart shapes, and the earrings are very long for the period. The entire box of jewelry pieces cost Patty $40.00, and she didn't even know these were in there, and wouldn't have recognized their value in any case since they are the first we've ever found. I knew immediately what they were, and was surprised at their pristine condition. Amazing what you can find in Illinois still. As of this minute this set is bringing $480.00 on Ebay, and the auctions will finish this evening. Pretty good return for a dollar.
This wasn't even the reason she was bidding on this box. She was actually bidding on it for the glass bead necklaces that I used for my bracelets. There were several for me, and a big group of plastic necklaces as well. I pulled what I wanted, and ended up with 35 jewelry lots to sell on Ebay later. But the big surprise was when I returned home, and started cutting up the necklaces for the beads, I discovered those two big chunky amber colored necklaces were actually real amber and not plastic. It it sometimes hard to tell because amber is so light. So somebody is really going to love this beautiful real amber chunky bracelet currently in production on my desk. It was a good auction week :)
UPDATE: The Mourning Jewelry sold for $619.00 WooHoo!
1 comment:
you posting this sort of is what i like most about your blog. second to hearing about you personally:) very interesting and, no morbid but, a labor of love. several boxes here packed with costume jewelry of mom and, her sister which was a world traveler. it's too late to get a history of it all and, I guess it will sit a long time untll i figure out what it is and especially what it is worth lol you girls know how to work e-bay
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