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Post by tntmom on Aug 9, 2011 1:56:05 GMT -5
This was pretty cool so thought I would post it. My Mom worked at a bank as a VP secretary, doing shorthand, until she was a few months pregnant with me. She worked at a high "falootin" bank in Amarillo, TX and fancy dress etiquette was a must. She has really enjoyed the few lapis cabs I have done for her. It brought her back some memories, and she came down this weekend with some old jewelry that she used to wear in 69-70. Very nice lapis cabs!!! I love these!   Hope you enjoy these as much as I do! |
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Post by Toad on Aug 9, 2011 6:33:58 GMT -5
Real nice. Careful though, you might be giving people retro ideas...
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Post by tanyafrench on Aug 9, 2011 8:14:40 GMT -5
Those are beautiful! I really like the retro look and I think many already are thinking that way.
Tanya
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Don
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Post by Don on Aug 9, 2011 16:37:32 GMT -5
That's some real nice lapis. Hard to get in that grade these days.
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Post by gr on Aug 9, 2011 19:43:55 GMT -5
I love the design of that first piece!! Very unique to me and I'm assuming it is silver
gr
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Post by rockrookie on Aug 9, 2011 19:51:09 GMT -5
Cool !!!!!!
thanks for sharing Krystee !!
--paul
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TByrd
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Post by TByrd on Aug 9, 2011 23:30:45 GMT -5
Those are awesome. And beautiful.
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peachfront
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Post by peachfront on Aug 10, 2011 9:46:43 GMT -5
OK, I'm a bit puzzled. Is the Lapis really likely to be genuine, undyed material, when it appears to be set in base metal? This doesn't strike me as particularly likely even in material from the 1960s. I was reading a biography of a local jeweler last night, and they mentioned that when she got started, gold was $35 an ounce and silver $1.50 an ounce. "Precious" metals just weren't that expensive back in the day. So I hope you understand why I'm scratching my head? I have a link to historical prices of gold so you can see what I'm talking about. www.nma.org/pdf/gold/his_gold_prices.pdfMakes no sense to me that you'd put a valuable stone in base metal in an era when it would have costs next to nothing to put it in gold or silver and then have something of genuine value. |
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Post by Toad on Aug 10, 2011 10:01:01 GMT -5
I was wondering if the lapis was genuine - way too consistent. But was $35 dollar an ounce gold considered expensive for the time? I can understand not using silver - gotta keep it polished...
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peachfront
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Post by peachfront on Aug 10, 2011 13:02:56 GMT -5
No, the $35 an ounce for gold was definitely cheap. Close to a controlled price. There was believed to be a great deal of gold in Fort Knox in those days and probably in the Soviet vaults as well. I had less than nothing financially in the mid 70s and even I purchased a couple of small 14kt items. Everyone, no matter how poor, would have at least one 14 kt gold chain.
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Post by tntmom on Aug 10, 2011 14:11:03 GMT -5
This is interesting, the thought never occurred to me that maybe the cabs are dyed or fake. The chain isn't gold, it is gold toned, so now that has me thinking.
I just got off the phone with my mom and she said that in 69 or 70 she paid around $30 to $40 dollars for it at the jewelry counter in Montgomery Wards. It was the most she could afford at the time. She said that is was labeled lapis. But then, who knows, that's an awfully long time ago. The stones look flawless with a bit of darker banding and no white at all. The jewelry pieces are stamped Monet on the jewelry and the clasps. That will be sad if the cabs are faux. Time to do some googling!
Thanks!
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peachfront
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Post by peachfront on Aug 10, 2011 15:08:11 GMT -5
I was trying to remember that name but all I remembered was Napier. I think Monet is highly unlikely to be genuine lapis but I'll see what I can dig up.
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Post by tntmom on Aug 10, 2011 15:19:47 GMT -5
Cool, thanks Peach!
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peachfront
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Post by peachfront on Aug 12, 2011 11:13:32 GMT -5
Well, to report back, so far I haven't had much luck. Online I found one Monet earring set that was the gold tone with the large blue stones like this. It was unworn and not removed from the supposedly original packaging. It did NOT say lapis on the packaging. But it was not the same style. It was less of a Deco style and more of a plain clean style. A lot of stuff like Monet and Napier were to my mind higher priced just because they were sold out of department store counters, not because they were represented to be genuine stones, which it looks like they weren't. Is it possible that the sales clerk referred to the stones as lapis-colored, and your Mom's memories got hazy over the years? It is also possible that the sales clerk fibbed, since they worked on commission in those days. We had Sears not Montgomery Ward's around here, but I know Sears was commission in a lot of departments...
If I get a chance, while I'm out today, I hope to check the old vintage jewelry price books at the library. As far as I know, costume jewelry is not any more valuable than it was in the late 1990s, for that matter, the "book price" was almost always too high compared to what I could really sell it for, but at least it could give an order of magnitude of an idea of where to start the bidding. I'm just guessing wildly but I think you could probably re-sell the set for between $75 to $150...but this is a pretty wild guess. I am NOT any expert in costume jewelry based on buying and selling some pieces in the 1990s, and you should check around with more knowledgeable sources, if you have any that you can trust. In that way, you can avoid selling too cheap. If you are keeping the items, then the price is not too important...
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peachfront
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Post by peachfront on Aug 12, 2011 15:39:17 GMT -5
Update from the library: Somebody else had checked out all the books on valueing vintage costume jewelry. So I've got nothing else at the moment. :-(
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Post by rockitman on Aug 12, 2011 21:39:41 GMT -5
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Post by rockitman on Aug 12, 2011 21:43:47 GMT -5
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Post by rockitman on Aug 12, 2011 21:46:57 GMT -5
Monet originally was founded in Providence, RI in 1929 by two brothers, Michael and Jay Chernow and the business name was Monocraft. Monocraft produced gold plated monograms which were set on handbags in the store at the time of purchase. The business expanded and the company became recognized as a manufacturer of durable and quality initials. The Chernow brothers, capitalizing on this advantage, began manufacturing jewelry under the name Monet around 1937. Much of the 1940's jewelry used silver as the base metal. Monet was also responsible for several technological advancements in jewelry, such as the development of the friction ear clip which adjusted so it could firmly fit the ear with out causing undue and painful pressure; and the barrel clutch for pierced earrings which replaced the butterfly clutch. These earrings stated above, I'm familiar with. I call them screwback clipbacks...because the clip can be adjusted by turning the knob to tighten or loosen.
In the late 1940's to early 1950's necklace had an average price of about $12.00 to 20.00 while earrings could be purchased between 4.00 and 7.50.
Monet was acquired by General Mills in 1968 and in 1977 they introduced a new line of jewelry called CIANI, with some pieces priced as high as $500! The firm was then purchased by Crystal Brands Jewelry in 1989 and is still in operation. Your major departments stores still carry Monet.
(The above information is from Fred Rezazadeh's book Costume Jewelry, A Practical Handbook.)
Nice design.
Your mom had good taste.
Great family piece.
Later jim
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peachfront
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Post by peachfront on Aug 13, 2011 9:31:20 GMT -5
Thanks, Jim. Unfortunately, Monet would have long stopped using silver by the time her mom bought this piece. We can see even from the photo that it's gold-tone (base metal). I am fairly satisfied that the chances of the stones being Lapis or even any stone at all are slim to none.
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