Signed Beauties of Costume Jewelry: Indentification & Values (Signed Beauties of Costume Jewelry)

Rating:
Summary: Plenty of Sparkles
Review: Before you sell Granny's costume jewelry at your garage sale for a couple of quarters, I'd suggest that you first check out this book. As is true in many collector books, the price guide is not in the back of this book. Instead, a price range is handily placed by each item's photograph, so no flipping to and from the back of the book is required.

The jewelry is sorted by maker, accompanied by a bit of history and general recognition characteristics. In case you forget the designer as you move through the book, the name is in a blue bar at the top of the page. You may not see the exact piece of jewelry you are trying to locate, but you will learn how to recognize a designer's general style.

The photography is do-it-yourself; Sparkles's husband, Kenneth A. Brown assisted in this department. Although a few of the photos are a bit out-of-focus, they are sufficiently clear to make out the main details.

The book is divided into general categories, such as: "designing men, designing women, disciples of Haskell, Hollywood stars, manufacturers, metalcraft, and unattributed pieces."

In order to determine the age of a piece, Sparkle tells us to look at the soldering, the catch, magazine advertisements and art or fashion trends of various periods. She gives us tips on care, restoration and storage of our costume jewelry. To my surprise, I learned that the value of a brooch that I bought at a thrift shop, just because I thought it looked pretty, is valued at about $90 (and I surely paid nowhere near that price). I'm certainly glad my brooch's consignor hadn't looked at this book. You might find that you've got a surprise treasure, too!


Rating:
Summary: Plenty of sparkle, not much substance
Review: I am a novice dealer and avid collector of sparkly beauties and found this book extremely satisfying for my inner raccoon. The pictures are clear enough and the selection is varied enough to keep that urge to sneak into your Gramma's jewelry box alive. However, to call this coffee table book a reference guide would be to put it in a class beyond it's contents. I found a pictoral guide to maker's marks sorely lacking. Also understanding the author has a limited space, and did include some of the great costume houses like Trifari, where are the other Kings of Costume like Coro and Sarah Coventry? They made spectactular pieces too. My Gramma couldn't have afforded most of the stuff in this book in her time; I found the selection a bit high-end and the pricing guide inflated.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Resource
Review: I thought this book was, as the author put it,"A Beautiful Book".
This is her second book on Costume Jewelry, and I can't wait for her next one. The background information was interesting and the pictures are wonderful. Great resource book.

Rating:
Summary: Better than ever!
Review: It shows many styles, many designers. It is the kind of book you use and reuse for information. Not all pieces in a parure/set are signed, leaving some pieces without the designer's mark. This was the case with some from my private collection. This book has been quite helpful in ascertaining a designer for such pieces. A great investment! Wonderful photos. A sufficient amount of information.

Rating:
Summary: Another Excellent Book!
Review: Marcia Brown continues to put sparkle into her books. Each one is a wonderful reference guide. As a novice vintage jewelry collector and dealer, I often take her books to bed with me and study all the great pictures. If you like vintage jewelry, you will love looking through her books!

Rating:
Summary: Better than ever!
Review: This is a great book for someone just getting started in collecting. The photos are great. It is also very helpful in describing what the marks are so that you can determine who made the piece. It is a very thorough book.

Rating:
Summary: Good Resource Book
Review: This is a great book for someone just getting started in collecting. The photos are great. It is also very helpful in describing what the marks are so that you can determine who made the piece. It is a very thorough book.