Guide to Buying and Antique or Vintage Wrist or Pocket Watches

Quartz technology has been around for over 30 years now and today many people are no longer familiar with manual wind watches. My love of old wrist watches began with my father’s 1949 14K gold Bulova tank style watch, a gift from his wife when they were married. I loved the quality, the styling, and the small second hand at the 6:00 position. Wearing it made me feel closer to them and gave me the illusion of being part of another era.

The quality and styling are still part of their allure of old watches but a little knowledge about what you can expect from such a watch will make owning one a more pleasurable experience. One thing you can expect is the periodic cost of maintenance. If worn on a regular basis, mechanical watch movement need to be cleaned and oiled at least every 3-5 years. For the watchmaker who services your watch this entails taking the movement apart, putting the parts in an ultrasonic cleaner, and then oiling, and then reassembly and timing. Back in the 1960’s I can remember going with my mother to Mr. Schneer’s watch shop on Bank Street in Waterbury. He joking told her that her watch probably ran like she did …”to fast”.

Vintage and antique watches are often not waterproof so forgetting and wearing one in the shower or in the pool will cause damage. If this happens the watch should be taken to someone for service as soon as possible. Rust is never a good thing! Also, a mechanical watch can not always withstand being dropped or being mishandled some similar fashion. The balance wheel sits on a staff, if the impact is severe enough, this staff can be broken or bent. This type of damage will cause the watch to stop running in certain positions or stop all together. At Affordable Vintage Jewelry we always have a good selection of vintage watches

Resize A Ring - Vintage and Estate

Thinking of buying a vintage or antique ring and wondering if resizing will be a problem? The answer is yes and no. Most rings can be sized, up or down, as much as 2 sizes without a problem. However, with some rings the cost of resizing can be expensive or impossible.

Rings with organic gemstones can be difficult to resize. Gems such as amber, ivory, coral, and pearls fall into this category. The same goes for gem material made from shells like abalone, mother of pearl, or cameos. Organic gems do not tolerate heat well. When a ring is resized the shank is cut, and gold or silver is added or taken away. It must then be soldered back together using a torch and solder. If the heat travels to the front of the ring where the gems are set they can be ruined.

The resizing of a ring with a gold setting can be done quickly so that the heat does not travel too far away from the back of the shank. Resizing a ring that is made of silver is much more difficult. Silver or sterling silver is a great conductor of heat. Although heat sensitive gems can be isolated in a bath of water or a substances like “Cool Jewel”, if the setting is made of silver, the gem(s) might have to be unset and then reset during the sizing process. These factors increase the difficulty of changing the size of a ring and add to the cost.

Rings that should not be resized are rings with enamel work, or gold plated silver. Antique wedding bands with a continuous design will not be the same after resizing. Finally, rings with channel set gemstones should not be resized if the stones continue more than half way around the ring. I hope this information will help you make a wise purchase. Please see our unique selection of antique and vintage rings at Affordablevintagejewelry.com.

Bell Trading Post Jewelry

The old Bell Trading Post, was an off-shoot of the Fred Harvey "Tourist Era" of jewelry that began around 1900. The company was located in Albuquerque, NM and was founded by Jack Michelson in 1935. They sold "Indian Jewelry" to tourist locations throughout the western U.S. The business was named "Bell" because Jack's wife Mildred maiden name was Bell. Later, gift ware & moccasin divisions were added to the existing Bell Jewelry division. In 1972, their name was changed to Sunbell Corp.

The items manufactured by Bell Trading Post can be categorized as Indian souvenir jewelry. Unlike items entirely produced and designed by Native Americans, souvenir jewelry has a machined-made uniformity, and relative delicate proportions. The pieces were smaller and lighter, as size was dictated by an inexpensive price. Genuine turquoise was used by also imitated, and some pieces were made of sterling and others base metal. Finally, the designs were usually stamped, with motifs easily recognized by the tourist: thunderbirds, rain clouds, and bows and arrows.

Collecting Indian souvenir jewelry has recently come into it's own. This type of jewelry brings back fond memories of summer vacations and the flashy items we always tried to get our parents to buy. At affordablevintagejewelry.com we almost always have several pieces in stock.

Vintage and Antique Marcasite Jewelry

Marcasite jewelry was first made during the late Victorian period. The cut stones are made from iron pyrite, or fools gold, and they have a gray and gold color. In the 1920’s marcasite jewlery was designed to imitate the look of pave diamonds and white gold that was so popular in this era. Like diamonds marcasites sparkle and flash in the light, and sterling silver substituted for white gold or platinum.

Vintage marcasite jewelry produced from the 1920’s to 1960 is very different from the jewelry produced today. In the early and middle part of this century the American jewelry industry had a large pool of highly trained labor. Stone setters, who apprenticed in Europe, worked in the factories of costume jewelry makers in Rhode Island and New Jersey setting rhinestones, glass, and marcasite in the same way as they would diamonds or other precious stones. They created jewelry with prong or “bead" set stones secured in place by small pieces of metal.

In bead setting, a seat or hole for the stone is cut into the metal. Then a tool called a graver is used to push the metal that is around the seat towards the stone. The process is repeated until there is enough metal over the "corners" of the stone to hold it securely. Then a beading tool is pressed onto the metal on the stone. The beading tool shapes the metal into an attractive looking "bead". This is where the term "bead set" originates. Marcasites in jewelry made before 1960 are set in using this method.

Today marcasites are set using glue or epoxy. This method requires no skilled labor and is cheaper to produce. However, over time marcasite stones set in this manner will loosen and be lost. Solvents such as nail polish remover, ammonia, and even moisture effect the glue used. The quality and durability is simply not the same. So if you love this type of jewelry and you should seek out the older pieces.

Please go to affordablevintagejewelry.com if you are interested in purchasing the vintage marcasite jewelry pictured in this post or other quality vintage jewelery.

Bauring Jewelry - Mistletoe Brooch 1940's

Sooner or later the sold items in my store will have to be deleted. If an item is fairly commonplace hitting the delete button is easy, but when an item is more rare or unique it seems a shame. So for this blog entry I wanted preserve the image and information concerning this wonderful sterling brooch by the Bauring company.

This finely crafted mistletoe pin signed BaurING Sterl. Bauring was an American jewelry company specializing in high end platinum and sterling jewelry. Their time in business was shortlived, roughly 1930 to the end of the 1940's. Jewelry by this company does not come up often, and it should be sought after for its excellent quality and workmanship. If you go to affordablevintagejewelry.com you can see jewelry of similar quality and worth.