Scott Gordon - About Estate Jewelry and Estate Jewelry Appraisals

Frequently Asked Questions

What is estate jewelry?
How old is antique jewelry? Is it always collectible? Is collectible jewelry always antique?
What defines the major periods - Georgian, Victorian, Art Nouveau, Edwardian, Art Deco, and Retro?
Is costume jewelry worth anything?
Are old-cut diamonds worth more or less than modern cut ones?
Is my old cameo worth anything?
What about my old pearls?
Why can't I sell my jewelry for what it's insured for?
How do I sell my jewelry on my own?

What is estate jewelry?

Estate jewelry is any jewelry that belongs or has belonged to a private person, living or dead. It doesn't imply anything about the jewelry's age, quality, condition, beauty, size or value. Some people in the trade informally call their wares "used" or "second-hand" (even if the items are grand). This means that you own estate jewelry. You can maintain it by making sure that it is clean, its stones are secure, its parts (such as clasps, prongs, etc.) are in good working order, and that it is properly insured. I can help you do these things. You can also sell it or give it away. I can help you with these decisions.

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How old is antique jewelry? Is it always collectible? Is collectible jewelry always antique?

Antique jewelry is usually defined as being one hundred years old, or older. This is based on U.S. Customs Service code for duty-free imports. This is an arbitrary standard, and dating the exact age of a given piece of jewelry is an imprecise art. Whether it is desirable enough to collect depends on its style, wearability, quality and condition. On the other hand, what we call collectible jewelry is anything deemed to be desirable, usually because of quality or artistic considerations. It is often signed by such famous houses as Tiffany, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, or Winston; or by such individual modern designers as Yurman or Dunay. Famous owners such as the Duchess of Windsor or Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis can also make jewelry collectible. Jewelry that reflects a major historical or artistic period is known as period jewelry, and can be quite collectible even if it hasn't reached one hundred years of age.

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What are the major periods — Georgian, Victorian, Art Nouveau, Edwardian, Art Deco, and Retro?

The major periods are based either on the reigns of British royalty or major art movements. Georgian refers to jewelry produced from about 1720 to 1830, when four kings named George took turns ruling England. Around the end of this period, heavy karat gold items with brilliant stones, including diamonds, in closed-back mountings with Greco-Roman influences predominated. Victorian jewelry was produced during the long reign of Victoria in England from 1837-1901, so it encompasses many styles. Her influence extended throughout the British Empire and beyond; much of it was produced in other places, including the United States. Its signature item is the cameo, in all its formality and sentimentality. Art Nouveau jewelry was made from about 1890 until 1910. It dealt with the worlds of nature and the human subconscious, expressed in griffins in gold and winged females in pique-a-jour enamel pendants. Its craftsmanship was fine. Edwardian jewelry was made around the same time as Art Nouveau but continued for about five more years. Clothing in this period was the lightest in one hundred years, and jewelry followed this style with delicate filigree work in platinum, led by Cartier. ("Belle Epoque" was the comparable style in France at that time.) Art Deco was an artistic movement in the 1920's that found expression in platinum jewelry with vivid color contrasts and strong geometric lines. It borrowed Egyptian, Indian and Oriental influences. Retro jewelry followed in about 1940, when platinum was drafted into the war effort, so it used rose gold and subjects reminiscent of the Victorian age, but in outsized designs with more of a machine look. Jewelry from the 1950's (which has been called Moderne) is characterized by the "floating" appearance of diamonds in Harry Winston's work.

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Is costume jewelry worth anything?

Costume jewelry can be collectible and some is more valuable than others. Important names include Monet, Krementz, and Chanel. Lately, Miriam Haskell has found favor.

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Are old-cut diamonds worth more or less than modern cut ones?

Diamonds began to be cut in their modern form in about 1920. Before that, they were cut to different dimensions (higher crowns and deeper pavilions, with enlarged culets and smaller tables) known today as the old European cut. Even earlier, around the mid-nineteenth century, they were cut into a soft square shape called the old mine cut. The beauty of cutting, based on symmetry and polish and a distinctive character of brilliance, can be judged without bias for any of these styles. It makes much more sense to consider diamonds one-by-one as the unique, precious things they are than to make any blanket statement about always recutting all of a certain style just because it's old.

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Is my old cameo worth anything?

The most important value factor in cameos is the quality of their carving. Such factors as unusual subject matter and full-body depictions can increase their value. Height of relief is important. So is condition. The pointy, snub nose is usually a sign of a modern cameo, sometimes carved by ultrasound, which is worth much less than an old well-carved one. The popularity of cameos comes and goes through the years. Currently, they are not in as much favor as in years gone by, but a very fine one will always be sought after.

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What about selling my old pearls?

Of the most frequently seen estate jewelry, pearl necklaces are probably subject to the greatest loss of value due to worn condition. As an organic gemstone, pearl is readily attacked by perfumes and cosmetics. These, along with the body chemistry of their wearer, can ravage pearls, stripping them of their shiny outer layer known as nacre and so their luster, or discoloring them.

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Why can't I sell my jewelry for what it's insured for?

Very simply, you buy jewelry at one market level (retail) and that is what is used as a basis for insurance coverage, but sell it on another (secondary, whether to the trade or to another ultimate consumer, or consigning to a broker or an auction house). The retail profit is lost at resale, but over time, appreciation may help offset that loss, depending on the particular jewelry. This means that the longer you hold onto a desirable item, the better it might perform.

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How do I sell my jewelry on my own? Sell it yourself to another private person, who will love it the way you or someone else presumably did when it was brand new. This is one extremely important thing I teach people to do in my oral consultation service: I analyze the item, photograph it to best advantage and provide you with the image, and, most important, give you marketing strategy that best suits you and the item. Be patient. Personal property re-sale markets (yes, there are several) are disorganized and unpredictable. There are two benchmarks of value in estate jewelry, and a third one in special cases. The first is the break-up value, which consists of intrinsic precious metal value (that is, what a scrap dealer will pay (the scrap value) against what a refiner will pay (the "melt" value). The former is less than the latter, so that the scrap dealer can make a profit. We'll address gemstone value in a moment. The other benchmark is current wholesale market value, because that is the equivalent of an item's value in the private secondary market, that is, its resale value after it is no longer new. This second value is only relevant if the item can be sold in its present form -- style, quality and condition all taken into account. The old rule of thumb is that someone in the jewelry business will buy the item for about one-half of wholesale, while a private buyer will pay wholesale (or its equivalent, to speak more precisely). Finally, if the item is special based on any number of factors, such as quality, famous owner or maker, age and condition, limited supply coupled with high demand, it can result in higher prices. A good example is the Daytona model of the Rolex Oyster Perpetual wristwatch; this has been known to bring more at auction than at retail.

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