Help with Costume Jewelry
Q.I am still trying to help a friend with her Grandmother's estate. Most of the big stuff has been sold (previous successful auction story) or stored, and now we are down to the smaller items. She had alot of costume jewelry, and one piece in particular is making me nervous. This is an "Original by Robert", it has the little palette mark with the words on the back. It also has the letters R R I E scratched into the back on the opposite end of the choker. It has one tiny spot where the metal has turned a green color, and the faux seed pearl in that spot has lost its cover. There are two other faux seed pearls that have lost their covers as well. It needs a good cleaning, and has some fine scratching on the back (probably from being poorly stored) but the large crystals are a whopping 3/4" (teardrop shape) and all of the pieces are here and intact. It has a large crystal, small crystal pattern with a branch-like piece covered with pearls and rhinestones that hang down over the large crystals. It is a gold metal that I think may be brass because the color does not change where there is wear or scratching. It is 15 inches long. Now you know as much about this piece as I do. I hope you know more. My question is, do I find someone to clean it, should I swap out the bad stones? Should I leave it alone? Would a potential buyer rather do the restoration work? Does anyone know what kind of metal Robert worked with? Are pieces like this common? I have looked in books and on you-know-where but have not seen anything like this. I tease my friend by calling this the "Wilma Flintstone" necklace because it reminds me of the giant rocks she wore. It is heavy. How much of the value is lost because of the flaws? Is it like a chipped piece of pottery? Perfect and priceless; dented and done-for?
A.Lauren, I don't know a lot about costume jewelry but when my Mother died I found she had a ton of it. She taught school for about 35 years and all those Christmases added up to a lot of jewelry!! So I bought a book. About Robert: it says "usually known for his work in filigree....in the 1950's and 60's created a line of enameled jewelry in whimsical fruits and flowers which has become the epitome of that era." It also goes on to say elsewhere that he often created one of a kind pieces to match clothing of his customers. The pieces in this book show a pretty good price -- around $100 in some examples. I wish I could tell you about whether or not it still has value -- maybe some one else will jump in here.
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