patina is for champions...

This morning I ventured out to an estate sale ... I was seriously overwhelmed at first and just about to leave when I spotted a table stacked to the rafters with jewelry. I took some time to sift through the piles and managed to match together some awesome pairs of earrings. Antibacterial soap was in serious order to say the least.

I don't normally like red, but I loved this bracelet:

My favorite find:

I also re-discovered my grandmother's antique tin collection, some of which I'm hoping to incorporate in my new apartment:

Hello, Don Draper! I think that this will make for a lovely little jewelry box:

This could be a pretty stationery box:

I love the detailing:

To clean or not to clean?

before & after

I love recycling old jewelry and clothes.
 Beading is oh so therapeutic.

 My older sister had this bracelet that she never wore even though she loved the stones.

So she asked me to restring it into a necklace for her, and voila! 

I wish that I could've found a gold clasp somewhere in the scary depths of my bead bag ... I cannot wait to be back in New York where I'll have the bead selection on 37th street at my disposal!

Jean Schlumberger & Jackie O

 

All throughout high school (and for about 6 months afterwards) I worked at Tiffany & Co. While I always loved jewelry, I never truly understood the fascination behind statement jewelry - that was until I tried on a Jean Schlumberger bracelet ... and a canary diamond ring ... and a Victoria Pendant ... I would continue, but you would get bored.

As you can imagine, I developed an addiction of some sort. Of course I wouldn't buy anything, I'd just hold the beautiful pieces and try them on and then squeal when I looked in the mirror.
  

  

The bracelets pictured both above and below are designed by Jean Schlumberger. They are made with 18 karat gold and his signature paillonné enamel. The intricate enameling process involves over 60 rounds of dipping, as translucent colors are continually dipped over 18 karat gold leaf.

 

These bracelets were Jackie O's favorite. She had a knack for collecting them and her favorite one was the white one pictured above.

Schlumberger's enamel bracelets (and his jewelry in general) epitomize grace, sophistication and style.

Images via: www.tiffany.com