A Symbolic Jewelry Purchase
This week we continue to be very busy with estate sales but I was able to post the above lot of jewelry on Wednesday evening. It has been a little bit more of a challenge for me as I am a night owl and I have found that these postings must now be earlier in the evening in order to be most successful. It is a good thing but it seems that many are back to work now and must retire to bed earlier than during the stay at home order. I was able to complete this posting by 9:00 PM which is early for me and I had good luck. The amazing coral squash blossom necklace has sold as well as the large cuff bracelet with coral, the two stacker cuff bracelets at the center back and the three pairs of earrings. The other items are available. There are some cool pieces remaining including the turquoise and coral chip inlay bird medallion necklace and the Southwest Style statement ring at the upper right. I could have sold the Leo Feeney earrings at the lower left four times. Leo Feeney specializes in incorporating semi-precious stones into his designs. The pendant above the earrings is my personal piece by Leo Feeney, it is gorgeous but I am more into larger pieces now than when I purchased this two years ago at my first Tucson Gem Show. I am keeping another pendant which has a stunning green Carico Lake turquoise stone surrounded by oval citrine stones. I get more compliments on that piece than any other. Next time we go to the Gem Show I will definitely be sourcing Leo Feeney's work and hope to see earrings and rings as well.
I have spent the past two days helping Mother with a personal jewelry project. We are approaching a year since Dad passed and although it was a difficult decision, Mother decided to part with some of the yellow gold and gemstone pieces Dad bought her years ago that she will no longer wear. The price of gold is way up as well, approaching $2,000 per ounce so the timing was good for her to maximize their value. Included in the sale was her Rolex which was a 1987 1/2 model with the fancy Jubilee band, two-tone with stainless steel and gold. Dad wanted to jazz up the original watch so he had a jeweler make a diamond and sapphire bezel. However the jeweler kept the original plain gold Rolex bezel which proved to be a big mistake. On Friday we went to the jeweler in downtown Des Plaines to look at Rolexes, we will not name names but Mother has been a customer there for 50 years and one of their sales associates used to shop in our store. I purchased my Rolex there three years ago and it was a pretty penny. We did not recognize the sales associates and they were pretty snooty. Maybe it is the fact that Mother's hair is white and magenta and my hair is black with magenta ribbons through it, we are not so sure we were taken seriously. As soon as they found out we wanted to trade in a Rolex and the bezel was not original, they totally shut down and said it was impossible. They did not even give us a business card or provide us any encouragement or suggestions. Mother really did like the smaller stainless steel model with the Oyster band the green face. She felt so upset after leaving there, especially after being a loyal customer for so long. I do not think she will ever return.
I immediately contacted one of my fine jewelry resources about selling Mother's Rolex and while we waited to hear back we went to Persin & Robbins Jewelers which is close to where she lives in downtown Arlington Heights. Even though it was 1/2 hour before closing, they were very kind to us as we perused their selection and Mother did love the larger model with the Oyster band and medium grey face. She was not ready to pull the trigger though because she did not yet know if our contact would be interested in purchasing her watch and what exactly her other items would bring. The president of the company helped us and gave his business card. Not too long after that we got the word that we could go see our contact. Mother was able to sell all of the items she wanted to and received enough to more than cover a basic model which she was thinking she preferred.
One thing we learned about visiting two different stores was that the selections are different at each store. We also learned that the new models on the Rolex website are not available in stores yet. Mother was really thinking she would prefer a watch without a date because she does not care for the bubble on the crystal that magnifies the date. I looked up other authorized Rolex dealers and found CD Peacock at Woodfield Mall. On Saturday we paid them a visit and the young man who helped us was very delightful. Mother was deciding between three watches with Oyster bands - the smaller one with the pale grey face, no date and sticks for numbers, the larger one with contrasting Roman numerals, date and a chocolate color face and the larger one with stainless steel Roman numerals, date and a white face. She decided to go with the white face, it was not something I expected her to choose but it looks so fresh and modern. We are both basically wearing Native American jewelry these days and it will look great with it as well as with any other jewelry she decides to wear. It seems whatever we do we think in terms of jewelry and hope Dad understands that we are not forgetting the past but turning over a new leaf. This is exactly what this watch represents. She does not want to take it out of the box until it is on the homeowner's insurance policy but I will try to get a photo.
While Mother was selling her items Friday, I was choosing pieces to buy. Mother did grab an amazing sterling silver cuff bracelet from Mexico, it makes a great statement but is not heavy. I am excited to present the new finds - many cool Native American pieces as well as some interesting items from Mexico to cycle online and to present in the online store and at the next pop-up sale. I also purchased a bunch of beautiful sterling silver and semi-precious stone bracelets. Some of them are great for larger wrists but some of the patterns can easily be taken out by a jeweler to shorten their length if needed. I will shoot some photos next week.
As usual there is lots of paperwork to do but I hope to get it cleared away so I can spend some time working on the pop-up sale next week. I will report on the progress next time!
I have spent the past two days helping Mother with a personal jewelry project. We are approaching a year since Dad passed and although it was a difficult decision, Mother decided to part with some of the yellow gold and gemstone pieces Dad bought her years ago that she will no longer wear. The price of gold is way up as well, approaching $2,000 per ounce so the timing was good for her to maximize their value. Included in the sale was her Rolex which was a 1987 1/2 model with the fancy Jubilee band, two-tone with stainless steel and gold. Dad wanted to jazz up the original watch so he had a jeweler make a diamond and sapphire bezel. However the jeweler kept the original plain gold Rolex bezel which proved to be a big mistake. On Friday we went to the jeweler in downtown Des Plaines to look at Rolexes, we will not name names but Mother has been a customer there for 50 years and one of their sales associates used to shop in our store. I purchased my Rolex there three years ago and it was a pretty penny. We did not recognize the sales associates and they were pretty snooty. Maybe it is the fact that Mother's hair is white and magenta and my hair is black with magenta ribbons through it, we are not so sure we were taken seriously. As soon as they found out we wanted to trade in a Rolex and the bezel was not original, they totally shut down and said it was impossible. They did not even give us a business card or provide us any encouragement or suggestions. Mother really did like the smaller stainless steel model with the Oyster band the green face. She felt so upset after leaving there, especially after being a loyal customer for so long. I do not think she will ever return.
I immediately contacted one of my fine jewelry resources about selling Mother's Rolex and while we waited to hear back we went to Persin & Robbins Jewelers which is close to where she lives in downtown Arlington Heights. Even though it was 1/2 hour before closing, they were very kind to us as we perused their selection and Mother did love the larger model with the Oyster band and medium grey face. She was not ready to pull the trigger though because she did not yet know if our contact would be interested in purchasing her watch and what exactly her other items would bring. The president of the company helped us and gave his business card. Not too long after that we got the word that we could go see our contact. Mother was able to sell all of the items she wanted to and received enough to more than cover a basic model which she was thinking she preferred.
One thing we learned about visiting two different stores was that the selections are different at each store. We also learned that the new models on the Rolex website are not available in stores yet. Mother was really thinking she would prefer a watch without a date because she does not care for the bubble on the crystal that magnifies the date. I looked up other authorized Rolex dealers and found CD Peacock at Woodfield Mall. On Saturday we paid them a visit and the young man who helped us was very delightful. Mother was deciding between three watches with Oyster bands - the smaller one with the pale grey face, no date and sticks for numbers, the larger one with contrasting Roman numerals, date and a chocolate color face and the larger one with stainless steel Roman numerals, date and a white face. She decided to go with the white face, it was not something I expected her to choose but it looks so fresh and modern. We are both basically wearing Native American jewelry these days and it will look great with it as well as with any other jewelry she decides to wear. It seems whatever we do we think in terms of jewelry and hope Dad understands that we are not forgetting the past but turning over a new leaf. This is exactly what this watch represents. She does not want to take it out of the box until it is on the homeowner's insurance policy but I will try to get a photo.
While Mother was selling her items Friday, I was choosing pieces to buy. Mother did grab an amazing sterling silver cuff bracelet from Mexico, it makes a great statement but is not heavy. I am excited to present the new finds - many cool Native American pieces as well as some interesting items from Mexico to cycle online and to present in the online store and at the next pop-up sale. I also purchased a bunch of beautiful sterling silver and semi-precious stone bracelets. Some of them are great for larger wrists but some of the patterns can easily be taken out by a jeweler to shorten their length if needed. I will shoot some photos next week.
As usual there is lots of paperwork to do but I hope to get it cleared away so I can spend some time working on the pop-up sale next week. I will report on the progress next time!