I have discovered this great material on vintage costume jewelry designers. A great lesson indeed. With a little bit of patience you can find out a lot of precious info. Take a look!

A “mushka” is a traditional cap worn by the russian Jewesse women through South and Little Russia even as far as Galicia. It not only an expensive piece of jewelry but is also a mark of beauty that is past trought generations from mother to daughter. Worn something like a big tiara, the “mushka” represensts also the wellfortune of the wearer.

This cap, with very unimportant modifications, has almost always the same form; the only difference is that, in the case of the wealthy, the pearls are larger, and sometimes a number of small pearls and precious stones are suspended here and there, set in the same way as earrings.

In order to furnish the requisite material for this wide spread fashion, the commerce in pearls of Odessa, Taganrog and some other places in southern Russia is very important. They are for the most part, oriental and come by way of Turkey and Odessa or else by way of Armenia and Tiflis.

Here is an old drawing of an woman wearing a “mushka”, a pearl choker (tight-necklace) and fancy pearl earrings in the 17th Century:

Jewelry boxes have long been treasured, for they have held precious items-sometimes valuable in themselves, sometimes valuable for their memories.

Throughout history, jewelry boxes were constructed and designed by craftsmen, one box at a time, each a unique piece reflecting the style of the time and locale.

American ladies of the early 1900′s aspired to the “high style” of the world’s great cities like London and Paris. Of course, jewelry stores also carried a selection of jewelry boxes, “the latest” designs purchased from wholesalers and displayed in their windows.

Here are the ones I like from buy.com. What’s your favorite?

I have stumbled upon a lovely photo gallery of jewelry from the Victorian era. The pictures shown below are picks from Joden World Resources a company that deals in museum quality antique and estate jewelry.

1. Yellow bracelet with 1 Cameo (1880) with 64 pearls and black enamel:

2. Bangle Bracelet
with Cabochon Garnets and Rose Cut Diamonds:

3. Diamond snake ring containing one diamond .50 carat and thirty-two diamonds:

4. Victorian Micro-mosaic Bird Brooch:

5. Handmade Etruscan Hardstone Jesus Cameo with Hair Receiver:

6. Victorian Multi-Colored Enamel Brooch:

7. Cobalt Enamel Watch Pendant:

The British crown jewels are so precious that they travel in secret and can only be handled by one person – the Crown Jeweler!

“Kazanjian Red” the vividly blood-hued red diamond is still on display in the museum’s Gem and Mineral Hall, Los Angeles,  until February 1st.

All diamond lovers know the story of this incredible rare diamond. It was discovered in 1927 in a diamond field in South Africa, got stolen during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands (World War II), secretly hidden for years in a salt mine, brought to daylight and mistaken to be a ruby due to its vivid red color, hidden again for 37 years by a private collector…and finally purchased by Los Angeles-based Kazanjian Bros. Inc.

Wow, another incredible adventurous rare diamond background to the list.

Black is black, platinum is the new gold and vintage is the new fashion in jewelry.

It now seems the best time to invest in vintage jewelry and estate pieces as they are ravaging the fashion world. Modern designers are making vintage pieces. Nowadays estate jewelry is highly appreciated, since fashion has loosened its boundaries and has accepted lots of influences.

A thing you should know about vintage jewelry is that also to that there are types, influences and periods to which vintage jewelry corresponds. More precisely:

• Georgian jewelry (1714-1837)

• Early Victorian, romantic jewelry (1837-1850)

• Mid-Victorian, grand jewelry (1860-1880)

• Late Victorian, aesthetic jewelry (1885-1900)

• Arts and crafts jewelry (1894-1923)

• Art Nouveau jewelry (1895-1915)

• Edwardian jewelry (1901-1910)

• Art Deco jewelry (1920-1935)

• Retro jewelry (1940s)

Source: Wikipedia.

The Napoleon pearl, also know as “La Regente Pearl” is the fifth largest natural pearl. Its splendor come from that fact that despite of the big size, it has a uniform shape. It is called the Napoleon pearl because it was the centerpiece of a pearl tiara he had made a present for his queen Marie Luise.

La Perle Regente or Napoleon

The Regente Pearl with its outstanding characteristics regarding shape, quality, brilliance and others, has become the most expensive single pearl, arriving at an amazing price of $2.5 million in 2005, at the Christie’s sale in Geneva.

The pearl sautoir with La Regente pearl

The shaped of the pearl is described to be that of a pigeon-egg, and has been fitted during history to several diverse mountings: centerpiece of a tiara, of a corsage, pendant to a pearl sautoir, hair ornament and pendant to more necklaces.

La Pelegrina and La Regente pearls

When it was first discovered the pearl weight 346.27 grains, but with time it became 302.68 grains. It still continues to be the biggest regular form pearl in the world, and the fifth from all.

The lastest piece of jewelry montage with La Regente

If you are looking for a piece of jewelry that is truly subtle, refined and out of the ordinary then filigree jewelry is it. The charm of filigree consists in the superb entwining and craftsmanship. Antique jewelry seems so precious and meticulous. This is an old craft that was present in the ancient civilizations: Egyptian, India and Cyprus. In this next video you can learn about Cypriot filigree jewelry and craftsmanship.

Learn more about filigree in Wikipedia.

Turquoise filigree ring