AS 2009 nears to an end and the holiday season begins our thoughts turn to loved ones, to gift buying and gift giving, and of course, to caring for those less fortunate. This is the time when charitable organizations raise funds for those under their care so that they too can have happy holidays. This year is proving to be very challenging to these organizations for reasons we all know too well.

Many vintage jewelry collectors refer to guilloché (pronounced gee-oh-shay and commonly anglicized as gee-oshe) as a type of enameling. The term actually refers to the process of engine turning which creates the design which shows as through the enamel in the piece. Remember the old spirograph machines you may have used as a child? This will give you a feeling of the look of a guilloché piece.

Jewelry which is made from insects dates back to ancient times, but one style which has remained popular until today is butterfly wing jewelry. The technique became notable during the British Empire Exhibition of 1924, when Thomas Mott's butterfly wing jewelry exhibit was credited with making butterfly jewelry a fashion rage.

If you visit the fine jewelry shops  on Ruby Lane and other sites on the internet, you'll probably find numerous sellers carrying some, if not quite a bit of Ruby and Sapphire jewelry. Why? Well, they are beautiful gems that most people generally find attractive and appealing, and in good quality, these dazzling gems are highly collectible. However, buying corundum can be confusing, exciting, worrisome and sometimes laborious. What is a 'fine' ruby? What is the 'best' blue? These questions have one simple answer: How do YOU see or feel about your stone?

The successful film Julie & Julia was fun to watch but left us all asking the question “Why didn’t Julia like Julie’s blog?” Julia Child, the ultimate foodie, simply said that she didn’t think Julie Powell was serious and that the project was more of stunt. Others who knew Julia elaborated saying that Julie Powell’s blog seemed to be more about the process and not at all about the food, that she didn’t describe the food, that she didn’t detail how it tasted, how it looked, how it felt.

I was "chatting" with a customer recently about Vintage jewelry.  And we were lamenting about the new jewelry.  Oh I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with new costume jewelry, but there are some areas of concern. 

There you are…holding a gorgeous piece of clear rhinestone jewelry that just sparkles like the dickens and has fabulous fire that shoots prisms of color everyone. You just know this is going to be a good sale – especially with the holiday season right around the corner.

Once upon a moonlit night
Two hearts blended
Love surrendered
With embracing arms
Remember

(borrowed from a song by Frank Sinatra)

In my yard there stands a 6’ tall shrub, which was covered with light purple flowers in late summer. Today these flowers have turned into clusters of dark red berries along almost every branch in the bush.

Celluloid is a highly flammable early vintage plastic which contains camphor. It is very lightweight and was later discontinued in favor of heavier more durable forms of plastic. Celluloid was one of the first plastics to be widely used in making jewelry.