Vintage Jewelry Mall

I love the look of Murano glass.  The richness of the colors and interesting shapes make it a type of glass which is very different from other forms.

Most Murano art glass is made by using a lampworking technique. The glass is made from silica.  When heated to very high temperatures, it becomes liquid.  Then, as it cools, there is a time when the glass becomes soft and pliable so that it can be worked into interesting shapes.

Often, Murano glass  has layers of contrasting colors, which are formed by dipping the object into the molten glass and the outer most layer, called the casing, is clear. Sometimes, the designs  be seen with swirls of gold through it called adventurine.

Another type of Murano glass is called "millefiori."  This is formed by making glass canes or rods with multi colored patterns which are visible when the ends of the canes are cut and inserted into a jewelry setting. The word comes from Italian and means a thousand flowers in Italian, since the finished process does indeed look like tiny flowers.

Vintage Jewelry Mall has a nice range of both styles of Murano Glass.

I don't normally promote other websites on this blog, but I found one recently that I think is really neat.  I'm fascinated by jewelry which has a recycled theme. Designers who can come up with new and exciting ways to use things that might otherwise end up in a trash heap are to be commended.

I was reading my latest issue of The Food Network Magazine yesterday, and found a link to a site which caught my interest. Food magazine was focusing on items made from soda cans, but the site also has many other interesting ideas.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Recycled Soda Can Cuff Bracelet

Recycled Map Bangle Bracelet

Blue Willow Broken China Bracelet

Half Dollar Daisy Pendant Necklace

Rolled Paper Bead Necklace

Vintage Typewriter Key Jewelry

C. S. Post & Co is described as being a general store. They feature a wide variety of items, including the the recycled jewelry styles shown here.

If you love cameo jewelry as much as I do, then you are in for a treat. I've just purchased a very large estate collection of only cameo jewelry item.

Here are some examples of the newest additions.

 

I've just listed a new line of Owl jewelry.  Owls are one of the most popular forms of figural jewelry motifs on the market today. The designs are colorful, cute and highly collectible.

The new owl themed pendants have just been added to my website here, and also to my Jewelry Lane store at Ruby Plaza. Here are a few designs. You can see more at the links above.

I have some exciting news about a new line of genuine Murano Millefiori glass and sterling silver that has been recently added to my Jewelry Lane store at Ruby Plaza and also at my Vintage Jewelry Lane store.

The jewelry is just stunning and features cabochons made from genuine Murano millefiori glass made in the island of Murano. The designer is Alan K and the designs are all guaranteed hand made. Many of the finishes on the jewelry are also rhodium plated which gives the pieces a lustrous appearance.

Millefiori is a type of Murano glass that has been incorporated with various layers of colors to create beautiful flower-like patterns. The word literally means "a thousand flowers." Millefiori is the name of the cylindrical, long glass rods which contain a specific pattern along its entire length, so that when cut into slices from one end, the particular pattern will be revealed. This style of glass has been around since the Middle Ages and more recently, have been produced for fine jewelry items.

rices range from $27 to $165. Here are some examples of the pieces.

To see more items from this fabulous line of Murano Millefiori glass jewelry, you can click go to Jewelry lane or Vintage Jewelry Lane.

Vintage Jewelry is very collectible and many people find the quality of it superior to modern costume jewelry.  It truly does stand the test of time. 

One thing that I have noticed on sites like ebay and other sites that sell vintage items is modern day jewelry that is made with vintage pieces, parts and findings.  The resulting look has the feel of vintage but the modern hip look that many are wanting.

One interesting design idea combines vintage buttons as well as other vintage beads, gems and other bits into unique one of a kind jewelry items.  Many of the designs avalilable use vintage glass, ceramic, mother of pearl, metal and plastic buttons as well ans interesting picture buttons for a different look.

If you are a bit creative, you might even be able to come up with your own one of a kind look.  Memory wrap bracelets particularly lend themselves to a beginning crafter.  The wire curves to form the bracelet shape and beds, buttons and the like are very easy to string onto the wire. 

The design shown here is a new listing that I have in my shop on Ebay - Carolina Collections Vintage Jewelry.  It features red lucite beads and interesting silver tone buttons for a trendy wide look that is popular right now.

I was recently looking over the sales of necklaces for spring, and I've noticed a big increase in the number of multi strand necklaces that I have been selling.  These necklaces were hugely popular in the 1950s and 1960s and many are marked Japan, Hong Kong or  West Germany.  Most of the popular jewelry designers made necklaces with several strands of glass or lucite beads too. Checking the contemporay jewelry sites also shows that there also seems to be a resurgence of this style with these sites too.

The necklaces come in a myriad of bead types but all have one thing in common - they have more than one strand, normally attached with special findings at the neckline so that the strands sit evenly in rows.  They often have an extender clasp, so that a single strand of beads used in the necklace hangs down at the back of the neckline.

Some, like this interesting artisan glass bead are crimped at the neckline for more of a bunched look.  This style is popular with designers of Bohemian styled jewelry.

Other multistrand necklaces of interest are those whicet.coh actually twist the strands into a braided look. Mainly done in glass, these torsade necklaces give a neater look at the neckline. Here is one featuring three rows of black and white glass beads.   Imagine this with a black jacket and white open necked blouse.

Is your neckline in need of a look that will dazzle?  My shop has a great selection of multi strand necklaces in right now.  Perhaps one is perfect for you!

I love to browse the internet looking for unusual ideas which designers of jewelry have created.  My latest discovery is a really interesting idea, and one that I haven't seen before.

The owner of the site Broken China Jewelry, also has a china site called Roses and Teacups. Their retail site often has various items of broken china which they turn into lovely and very romantic pieces of jewelry.

The sales of their jewelry items benefits an outreach called Broken to Beautiful which offers encouragement, resources and opportunities to women ascending out of domestic violence and sexual abuse.  It is nice to see such a wonderful and generous use of what other companies would just throw away.

The necklace featured here is a lovely stunning heart shaped charms, pretty glass beads and crystals.

The site reuses the china pieces to make jewelry of all types from several different designers.    There are rings, bracelets, pendants and many styles of necklaces.  Have a look around the site today.  Your purchase benefits a good cause.

I always love to find new and interesting ideas for recycling other items into jewelry.  I've seen everything from jewelry made with real moss, to bicycle part jewelry.  Often, when searching through large estate collections that I purchase, I'll come across some interesting new item.  Occasionally, I'll find a piece of jewerly made from an old sterling or stainless spoon, knife or other piece of cutlery.

This style of jewelry is the focus of Jen McGlasham of McFlashpants.  This interesting site has a large range of jewelry, all fashioned from recycled table flatware.  The site also has a line of what they call "living jewelry", which uses sod filled recycled ginseng bottles and cut off knife handles to which have been added organic herbs such as lemon balm, and chocolate mint.

Here are a couple of items from their range of jewelry. 

My daughter is in college now, but there was a time that she was obsessed with Barbies.  Oddly enough, I had made a

decision never to give her one, but my sisters decided that she just had to have some Barbies, so she received them as birthday gifts, and that was the end of that decision.

Those days are long gone, alas.  I was browsing the web today and came across a jewelry designer that brought back all sorts of nostalgic memories to me.  The designer is Margaux Lange, and she makes one of a kind jewelry from recycled Barbie and Ken doll parts.

The collection utilizes salvaged doll parts, in combination with sterling silver and pigmented resins, for a unique jewelry design.  Lange has long had a desire to re-purpose materials into handmade wearable art and is meant to celebrate her relationship with the doll, as well as pop culture's relationship with Barbie.

Lange received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2001, where her Plastic Body Series was first conceived.  She has been creating and exhibiting for nearly 10 years and the jewelry has been published in numerous books.  The  Barbie Body Series is sought after by Art Jewelry collectors, Barbie nostalgics, and bold individuals alike.

The collection consists of necklaces, bracelets, pins, earrings and rings.  Many feature parts of Barbie, and some use parts of both Barbie and Ken.  Here are some examples:

You can view the whole collection at the Margaux Lange website.