The Temptation That is Reproductions, Part 1

I just went on a buying trip with my boss, Marion Glober.  Now, now, it’s actually a lot of hard work.  I can feel you rolling your eyes as you read this, thinking “How hard can it be to spend someone else’s money on jewelry?” I would have to tell you that you are right; it’s so easy!  The hard part is saying “No”. 

We see a lot of neat stuff.  Some of it is right for our shop.  We are looking for beautiful, truly old jewelry that fulfills Marions’s aesthetic sensibility.  The hard part is finding the right variety of goods.  For example, we need to find earrings and necklaces and bracelets etc.  We need them to be in a variety of metals with a variety of designs and gemstones.  They need to be in a variety of price points.  You can imagine what a juggling act this is.  Sometimes it is very tempting to do the unthinkable…

Buy reproductions.

Yeah… reproductions.  How soulless is that?  I know other “antique jewelers” do it.  But we don’t want to be “antique” jewelers.  We are ANTIQUE jewelers. The problem is that certain categories that we need to buy are very difficult to fill.  For example, finding Edwardian or Art Deco earrings is almost impossible.  Earrings get split up and turned into other things.  It is hard to keep a pair together for a hundred years.  So when we go hunting, to find a pair is truly the Holy Grail.  But we see plenty of reproductions.  Some dealers are honest and tell you they are reproductions.  Some dealers are unscrupulous and lie (thankfully we are savvy enough to tell the difference).  Some dealers are selling jewelry as antique that is reproduction because they themselves are fooled.  It is a tricky business.

Marion is extremely particular.  When she examines a piece of jewelry she looks at it carefully with her loupe to check the stones and make sure they are old.  She looks at the prongs to make sure they are delicate.  She examines the findings to make sure they match the age of the piece.  She touches the piece all over, front and back, with her finger to feel for any sharp, new points.  If anything raises a red flag, she starts questioning the dealer.  Sometimes there are satisfying answers.  But many, many times she smiles and regretfully declines the piece.  She is simply not interested in selling reproductions.  So, off we go to hunt again. Eventually, our patience paid off.  We found the loveliest pair of Art Deco Emerald and Diamond Earrings.  Truly old, truly exquisite.  One of a kind.  Just our cup of tea.

- Cristina