One of the major design events of the 1920s, if not the most important, was "L'exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes", which is French for "The International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts." This World's fair was held in Paris, France from April to October 1925.

I've read many blogs dealing with the question of diversification. My response - a most emphatic YES! When I started out all I ever purchased was jewelry. My eyes were focused on bling - hence my shop name Glitterbugs. Then I discovered two facts. First, beautiful costume pieces in good condition were getting harder to come by and second, there were so many other great items that would be perfect to add to my shop.

Consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious with an emphasis on greener living. Stores offer re-usable shopping bags in fun colors; services to refill an ink cartridge; and the availability of more earth friendly products. Even schools have Reduce, Reuse and Recycle sales to pass along books and clothing that can benefit others.

The Hope Diamond - Huge Blue Gemstone with a Long and Fascinating History

Today the term Biwa Pearls is used to describe all stick or irregularly shaped pearls. But did you know that there was a time that it was illegal to refer to pearls as “Biwa Pearls” unless they originated from Lake Biwa in Japan?

Lake Biwa, located NE of Kyoto is an ancient lake, almost 4 million years old, formed by the same earthquake that created Mount Fuji. It is one of the most important lakes on earth in terms of its history and bio-diversity.

With the abundance of information available on the web about Bakelite and vintage plastics, I am always thrilled to discover things I didn’t know before and all the more so when I can share the information. So, here we are. Most famous among the plastics is Bakelite. It’s inventor, Leo Baekeland (1863-1944) took out a patent for his wonder material in 1907. Although Bakelite was not the first plastic, it rapidly became the most used. It was virtually found everywhere.

As a young child, I remember admiring the huge Black Alaska Diamond ring my mother would wear whenever she and dad were going out for an evening away from us children. She would get dressed up in high heels, curl her jet black hair, put on her dark red lipstick and just before leaving the house, slip that stunning ring onto her right hand. We didn't see it any other time, it remained safely tucked inside her jewelry box where we couldn't reach it.

Platinum has not always been considered to be the most precious metal to make jewelry from. Although there are some nice examples of platinum jewelry, people's attitude towards platinum has been different ...

The word "platinum" is derived from the Spanish "platina", which means "small silver". The first traces of platinum date from the Thebes epoch (about 7th century before JC), from when a small box was retrieved, adorned with a platinum ribbon.

A web search for a definition of Damascene will return several different definitions, but most of them refer to the art of inlaying or steel or other metals with gold or silver metals to make a decorative design. Often Damascus is listed as the city of origin - hence the name. However, Damascene jewelry comes from several areas of the world.

I have been at this resell game for 10 years now, so you would think I have enough experience to avoid the pitfalls and mistakes that newcomers often make. But even this week, I found myself ignoring my own rules and being taken advantage of by unscrupulous dealers and hawkers. I really need to take a refresher course in how not to be ripped off!