Being Smart While Shopping for Vintage Jewelry

Jewelry of any kind makes a fashion statement, but perhaps the most interesting statement can be made by selection vintage jewelry. The workmanship in high quality vintage jewelry stands out from what you can buy in modern jewelry stores, and you'll stand out as someone with a very decided style.

Vintage jewelry is often quite detailed. That is one of the charms of it. A lot of work has clearly gone in to much of it.

You can buy both fine and fashion jewelry when you look for vintage pieces. In fine jewelry, it can have the advantage that the quality of gemstone is often higher than is easily available today. Edwardian jewelry in particular tends to use gemstones such as emeralds, sapphires, rubies and diamonds to good advantage.

A key factor in choosing good vintage jewelry is the condition it is in. Many pieces are very difficult or even essentially impossible to repair within a reasonable cost. The occasional loose or missing gemstone, especially if it is small, may not be a disaster, but other kinds of damage may be more serious.

There are a few areas you need to be careful in when shopping for vintage pieces. Perhaps the most obvious to say is that you need to know the difference between vintage and reproduction. It's not that uncommon to see pieces that are labeled as vintage style. You don't want to pay an excessive price for reproductions when you're looking for the real thing.

One of the delights of online shopping is that it is easier to find the pieces you want. Auction sites make this much easier, but you do have to be careful. It's all too easy to be fooled as to what it is you are buying.

One of the most important things to know is the reputation of the seller. Auction sites tend to make this easy with feedback given on transactions and available publicly. This lets you know if the seller has been providing quality products, at least if they've been around a while.

You'll also want to inspect pictures carefully. A good auction will include some closeup shots, so that you can really see the details of the piece and any flaws. Corrosion, discoloration and holes are all flaws that cannot be repaired, and you will want to consider if they ruin the piece for you.

Read the descriptions carefully. With vintage jewelry it is too common to read descriptions that are somewhat misleading, such as when something is of a vintage style. If you miss the word that makes it clear that something is not actually a vintage piece you can end up overpaying by quite a bit.

Cautious shopping, however, can result in great finds at reasonable or even amazing prices. If something doesn't feel right, trust that instinct, but if everything is checking out you might just find a beautiful new piece of jewelry for your collection.

Stephanie Foster runs [http://www.findvintagejewelry.com/] because she loves shopping for fine vintage jewelry. Visit her site to find vintage jewelry [http://www.findvintagejewelry.com/] to add to your collection.

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