New Sherman Jewellery Book

Sandra Caldwell and Evelyn Yallen have created, or should I say compiled, the most comprehensive book of Sherman Jewellery photographs in existence. If you're like me, and you hunt unsigned Sherman at yard sales, rummage sales and estate auctions, make The Masterpiece Collection your new reference manual.

Sherman Jewellery, The Masterpiece Collection is a 216 page 8-1/2 x 11 hardcover in full colour that features the best of the best of Sherman, including figurals, men's jewellery, unusual colour combinations, beads, art glass, and an illustrated chapter on the signed vs. unsigned debate.

More importantly, Sandra Caldwell and Evelyn Yallen are expert collectors and therefore skilled at summarizing the subtleties of Sherman; every sentence makes readers more aware of the jewelry design business and the realities of the post war Canadian fashion marketplace. The Masterpiece Collection offers a look at some of the rarest Sherman pieces, and focuses on the many colours of Swarovski stones he used to create his designs. Buying and reading this book will make you an expert in Sherman jewelry. More details about Hunting Unsigned Sherman in the Dumpdiggers Library.

Table of Contents

Why We Collect
Sherman: A Brief History
Prices and pricing Sherman
Signed vs Unsigned: The Great Debate
Clear Jewelry
Aurora Borealis and Topaz Jewelry
Black, grey and hematite jewelry
Blue Jewelry
Green Jewelry
Red and pink jewelry
Purple and alexandrite jewelry
Unusual colours
Beads
Art glass, gold tone and men’s jewellery
Figurals and centennials
Multiples
Last but not least

The book details market trends and Canadian competitors like Artistic, Continental and Keyes. It also references American firms like Boucher, Coro, and Trifari. Wisdom is shared in short sentences like, ’Much as Boucher is known for his use of baguette stones, Sherman loved marquise stones and used them liberally. It is one of the features that makes a piece of Sherman jewellery so identifiable.’

Regarding the Great Debate: How much Sherman jewellery is unsigned? On page 12 and 13 there are no pictures. That anomaly alone should immediately signal readers that something important is written here. On these two pages Sandra and Evelyn have laid out their position on the great debate – they get down to business stating why they believe “there is a significant amount of unsigned Sherman” waiting to be found; because,

1. Sherman is hard to fake, and there would be very little profit in replications.
2. Original owners attest to buying both signed and unsigned pieces in same box.
3. Identical designs exist that are both signed and unsigned.
4. Sherman was often sold with cards and tags in gift boxes that served as a signature.

And let’s remember after all, it was just costume jewellery. Designers probably didnt feel obligated to sign their work as often in this fashion genre - because costume jewelery was considered disposable.

Aurora Borealis and Topaz Jewelry
Aurora, which is a technique for coating stones in 1955 by Swarovski, was a novel treatment that gave interesting depth to designs by allowing the same stone to take on a different appearance and colour. the authors state that they believe, based on years of experience collecting Sherman, that there is more Aurora Borealis and Topaz jewelry in existence than any other make

Regarding Green Jewelry
According to Sandra and Evelyn, green jewelry is the least popular colour of all costume jewelry and so accordingly there are fewer green Sherman designs – does this make green jewelry more expensive today? Not necessarily, it depends on the beauty and modern functionality and modern desirability more . But of particular interest is the wide rigid cuff bracelet in an uncommon pale, celadon green with the usual cabochon glass stones

The book shows rare pieces and uncommon designs using unfoiled, reverse set stones. Whenever possible it shows sets where everything matches, and time and time again the necklace is signed but the earrings are not signed or the bracelet is shown in the box with cardboard tag signature etc. This book is like having The Masterpiece Collection.

Sandra Caldwell and Evelyn Yallen have a website http://intotemptation.com, on which there are far more details and ecommerce links to buy the book for $60 dollars.

If you have any questions about Sherman Jewellery or the Masterpiece Collection, they can be reached by email at theshermanbook AT gmail DOT com.

CORO 1960s Sapphire Flower Brooch - NO SALE

This beautiful piece of costume jewelry is a CORO vintage Sapphire Flower brooch with enameled leaves and petals. It was made by this jewelry company in the mid 1960s and features a blue crystal at the tip of the stamina inside the flower blossom. I liked the design a little too immediately, and I confess now to buying the piece on aesthetics (but for a very low price...). It does however bear the mark of CORO on the rear and is therefore a signed piece which was my only mandate.

However, it did not sell on eBay, where it was listed in a seven day auction with very reasonable shipping fees priced at $9.99 as minimum bid.

The back story here is that I paid that Russian lady, Stanya, only $8.00 for the piece at The Sunday Market four days before... I know her husband through a swimming pools installation company, long story, but yes I was hoping to 'flip this brooch' using the buy local / sell global principles, but it didn't work.

Social marketing? I was also hoping that through social marketing on the internet I could generate some interest in the artifact. I knew I was destined to write more on the subject - one more interesting blog post, or article about the experience of actually selling something for a profit on eBay... but it didn't happen this time.

AMOUNT INVESTED $8.00 + $2.00 eBay fees = $10
AMOUNT RECOVERED = $0

Dotty Stringfield gave me more insight on the subject of which costume jewelry designers are the most sought after on eBay. CORO is too common (and nobody wears brooches anymore) so my first attempt was literally doomed to failure before it began... why didn't anyone tell me what I already knew? I blame it all on Stanya.

Now this from Dotty Stringfield's costume jewelry research site:

Dumpdiggers,

Really good pieces from the following are always hot: Haskell (there is a lot of fake Haskell on ebay), Sherman, Har, Schiapparelli, Mazer, Trifari, Schreiner, Boucher, Pennino, Chanel, Eisenberg. Figural pieces are also popular -- people dancing, etc.

Most of the costume jewelry companies made a wide range of jewelry, from the ordinary and forgettable to exquisite, high end pieces. Others simply stuck with making lower end pieces by the thousands. Just because a name is on the piece of jewelry, that doesn't make it a desired item. Design, rarity, company name, etc., all play into whether or not a piece will bring a high price.

:)Dotty

Thanks Dotty. I guess its time to start reading books on the subject? Wait... Am I really that interested? After I buy my next set of earrings, ring, necklace or bracelet, I'll buzz you again Dotty, and maybe you can give me some idea of the proper keywords I need to plug the items into eBay most effectively? For example, I didn't think to mention the enameled leaves and petals of this brooch until you pointed it out.

Anybody want a CORO vintage 1960's Sapphire Flower brooch? I'll give it up to anyone who asks nicely in the comment box (and pays shipping?).

Fine Antiques at The Sunday Market in Toronto

August has five Sundays, and that's good news for Dumpdiggers addicted to shopping for high quality antiques & collectibles at The Sunday Market in downtown Toronto.

Every Sunday, St Lawrence Hall is stuffed full of opportunities for the wise old man that buys and sells history.

Dumpdiggers is absolutely obsessed with the idea of buying locally and selling globally on eBay. And now it occurs to me that costume jewelry could be my new specialty; beautiful pieces are more plentiful here in Toronto, and some items that are common here could be rare and valuable elsewhere in the world, esp if it's a good quality piece, and signed by a designer. I just need to know which ones to buy...

The Sunday Market in St Lawrence Hall (on the north side of Front St at Jarvis directly across from St Lawrence Market Bldg) is the best place in Toronto to play the Buy Local / Sell Global game with antiques.

Every Sunday morning all year long this venue is jammed with experts selling merchandise to the public on long tables. Every square inch is used.

I have my theories about these characters... Why are they all so rude here? Even the nice old ladies act badly toward me here? and why do they all shy away from my camera? If you take the time to learn their personal stories, you’ll find a lot of jaded shopkeepers in here. Many are ex-antiques dealers that have had to close their real stores after being squeezed out of expensive downtown property, and now they have houses full of merchandise which they must liquidate before they die.

THE VENDORS: A lot of senior citizens and people in their late fifties that are receiving disability cheques from Workman's Compensation will sell antiques to supplement their incomes. And they definitely don’t want their pictures taken!

As I walked around the building at 11:30 am Sunday Aug 3rd I counted several conflicted proprietors shying away from my invasive photography – and yet they remain in their booths as paranoid persons interacting with the public!

Here's old Herbie Bangle nervously watching me from behind an excellent collection of military medals and Canadian Armed Forces collectibles - there's over two hundred different silver tea spoons in that display case on the left and most are priced between ten and twenty dollars.

Yank Azman, an old friend of Dumpdiggers, hammed it up for me and tried to pretend he didn't want his picture taken... I know better. Yank is a professional TV actor and talk show guest – he’s an old friend of Dumpdiggers and was host of ill fated TV project called Flea Market Millionaires back in July 2001.

Yank closed his store (in the bottom south west corner of the Harbourfront Antiques Mall) three years later but is still selling his merchandise on Sundays at the St Lawrence Sunday Market – he was a legend at Harbourfront where his Antiques for Men and Fearless Women was the coolest and most original booth in the entire complex.

Right after catching up with Yank I encountered a marvelous Russian woman named Stanya who had a hundred or more pretty pieces of costume jewelry for sale on her table – but very few items were signed.

When I asked her to show me the signed pieces only, she obliged and displayed each example under a magnifying lens. I feel in love with #4.

But I didn't want to buy a brooch. They are not functional, and all but forgotten by modern fashion. They are not sought after by anyone anymore. Personally I don't think they're that relevant in today's fashion. But yet I couldn't help but like this strange little item. When Stanya showed me this marvelous sapphire glass green enameled flower that is at its most basic level, a clothing accessory, I forget all about my anti-brooch policy.

One look at the blue green enameled flower blossom and I was smitten!

So I bought it. And now...

This brooch is FOR SALE ON EBAY

I won't say how much I paid Stanya at The Sunday Market on Aug 3rd, but I will reveal everything in a new blog post on Aug 13th after my seven day eBay auction ends! Then I'll reveal if I made any money 'flipping' this item as per the terms of the Buy Local Sell Global game.

Eager to know more about the item, I researched CORO on Morning Glory Jewelry when I got home that afternoon.

Later in the week I found out from Dotty Stringfield that my brooch has a 'sapphire colored glass rhinestone, and enameled leaves and petals'.

Coro is the amalgamation of Cohen & Rosenberger and was began early in the 1900's in Providence, Rhode Island. As CORO they're familiar to all costume jewelry lovers.

CORO made jewelry from about 1920 until the 1970's and probably did it under more different names than any other maker. Vendome (1944-1979) , Corocraft (1935-1980), and Duette are just three examples. In general, the Coro mark was on the more modestly priced jewelry. Corocraft, Vendome and Francois were the higher priced lines. Adolph Katz was one of the best known of the designers, but there were many others responsible for the wonderful style of Coro jewelry.

Coro made soooo many pieces over the years that it is often hard to actually identify any one individual piece. Dotty Stringfield believes my brooch was made after 1960, as they started using 'textured backs' at that time. The 'smooth backs' used before that period were much more labor intensive, and therefore more expensive to make.

Here's another helpful website resource for researching costume jewelry: http://www.jewelrypatents.com/ is owned by Dotty's friend Jim Katz.

Dotty Stringfield's research site: http://www.illusionjewels.com/costumejewelrymarks.html