Are there any nice diamonds to be found in Antique Markets?

[GemFever]

Are there any seasoned Antiquers among us? I'm curious if big antique markets have a worthwhile selection of fine vintage jewelry. By "worthwhile" I mean worth driving about 2 hours one way to see... Like the big antique locations in Pennsylvania, for example. I'd really love to go, but I'm afraid I'll drive two hours and find mostly costume jewelry. Is it better to stick to specialized estate jewelry shops for the coveted old cuts?

One does occasionally read here on PS about a beautiful antique diamond ring found at a flea market for $3 and other such deals, but that's not quite what I'm hoping for at the moment. Those are once in a blue moon lucky finds. Of course I wouldn't say no if I came across something like that But at the moment I'm hoping to find a whole case of reasonably priced vintage jewelry somewhere in a dusty corner of an antique mall... does *that* happen?

Any info, tips, advice appreciated!

Happy weekend!

 

[GemFever]

Re: Are there any nice diamonds to be found in Antique Marke

Gah, my English! It should be *at* antique markers, right? Oops

 

[Piglet9j7]

Re: Are there any nice diamonds to be found in Antique Marke

I think these days with the surge in online retail, the chances of "lucky" finds are a rarity. But you can always try!

 

[GemFever]

Re: Are there any nice diamonds to be found in Antique Marke

Thanks Piglet!

I'm not so much looking for crazy steals and lucky buys, as options to look at. I wouldn't mind paying a fair price after sifting through a bunch of goodies and finding just the one I want. I'm curious though if there *is* fine jewelry to be sifted through, or if it's mostly costume stuff. I know an Antique Market near my home has only a couple random pieces of fine jewelry here and there. So I wouldn't want to spend several hours driving just to see that.

 

[imagardener2]

Re: Are there any nice diamonds to be found in Antique Marke

How will you know that $3 ring has a real diamond? Will you be carrying (and using) one of those diamond testers? A loupe?

Now that I am interested in gems and antique rings I'm going to keep my eyes peeled while on vacation to different places. So much more fun that buying tourist crap and I've stopped "antique" browsing because I just don't need any more "things" in my house. Jewelry however? Pleeeenty of room. It's so nice and small lol.

We're headed up to Maine and Nova Scotia this coming September by camper van.I like stopping in smallish towns and walking around Main St. so who knows. If I don't spend a lot I won't care if it's fake.

I stopped in a local jewelers to get a catch repaired and asked if they had any older rings. They said they didn't carry estate jewelry because people wanted it to be guaranteed (meaning wouldn't break, etc) and they couldn't do that. I'm wondering whether that was the real reason or not. Maybe they do buy or trade in estate jewelry but sell it outside their store, perhaps online.

This is the "best" jeweler in a medium size Florida town with semi-affluent senior citizens and they have an excellent reputation. I browsed a little but nothing appealed to me. Nothing with any character. They had nice colored gemstone pendants of modest size, diamond earring studs, etc, no blingy diamond rings although a woman picking up showed me her blingy diamond halo that she had them design for her. Again nothing really out of the ordinary but a nice size diamond.

We need a thread "Second-Hand Treasures". Show and tell your finds and how little you spent.

 

[GemFever]

Re: Are there any nice diamonds to be found in Antique Marke

Imagardener, here is a link to the tread that mentions a once-in-a-lifetime $3 flea market find:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/art-deco-dinner-ring.184145/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/art-deco-dinner-ring.184145/[/URL]

I think when you see something like *that*, you don't need a diamond tester, just scoop it up! But of course this kind of deal is about as likely as a lottery win. Antique sellers usually know what they have.

As for carrying around a diamond tester... i don't know. I think it's best to have a well-trained eye for quality and signs of authenticity (and a good loupe!). PS is a great training ground for that, of course But also estate jewelry shops, and Intergem shows.

And here's a cool thread on finds under $500 Most of them are ebay I think, but still nice to look.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/favorite-pieces-under-500.182705/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/favorite-pieces-under-500.182705/[/URL]

 

[Aerix]

Re: Are there any nice diamonds to be found in Antique Marke

If you're ever in the Atlanta area, I recommend Scott's Antique Market: http://www.scottantiquemarket.com/antiqueshows_dates.html

They have shows in Ohio as well. It's 3 days, once a month. I went to the show in Atlanta once and it was BIG. They had 2 buildings. I didn't really compare prices, but they had a lot of variety. I'm sure if you took your time you might be able to find something good for a reasonable price. I'm not sure you'd find a deal of a lifetime, like a $3 diamond though!

All things aside, I've been to several pawn shops, antique/jewelry shows, antique shops, etc. I never seem to find any really good deals. (Maybe I'm not looking hard enough?) I prefer to stick to finding deals online. Saves me the time, trouble and cost of gas going to places. Plus, most of my best deals have been found online.

 

[GemFever]

Re: Are there any nice diamonds to be found in Antique Marke

Xiriah, thanks for the link! I am in the ATL area often, since my folks live there.

But you say you've been to this Antique Market, and no jewelry? Maybe it's just not worth going them. I'm not actually interested in any other antique things... or rather, I'm sure I could find tons of neat stuff, but our apartment is small and I want to avoid the temptation to clutter

Intergem is pretty good for vintage jewelry. There are unlikely to be steals, but you can bargain and get decent prices. And soo much pretty stuff to look at! I'm countin' the days till Intergem comes to town!

 

[minousbijoux]

Re: Are there any nice diamonds to be found in Antique Marke

I would love to go to flea markets and see some decent jewelry. But I imagine that recognizing something has value would be difficult because of the likely wear and tear and dirt; and because you'd lack the ability to test.

You know what's really pathetic? I saw the thread on the $3 find, and was about to add a response when I saw that I already had responded. That thread is less than month old and I don't even remember seeing it, let alone responding...oh, how sad to have no memory Sorry threadjack over!

 

[GemFever]

Re: Are there any nice diamonds to be found in Antique Marke

Aww Minou! That's happened to me so many times... both with realizing I'd commented on old PS threads, and also with facebook photos. Granted, the comments may be months or years old, but still! I'm in my 20s! I think our minds are just overtaxed with all the internet info coming at us.

As for the flea markets... I suppose if one had time to browse, it may be possible to find decent deals and to recognize value. Just stick to what you know, the kind of vintage jewelry you see here and on ebay and all the other places. Look for quality workmanship... But all of that would take time.

If I end up going to one of these, I'll try to remember and update this thread!

 

[GemFever]

Re: Are there any nice diamonds to be found in Antique Marke

Oh, and the best part is when I re-visit a friend's photo album, see a cool pic, want to make a comment -- and scroll down to see that I've made practically the EXACT SAME comment a year ago. I'm so predictable Fun times!

 

[minousbijoux]

Re: Are there any nice diamonds to be found in Antique Marke

Oh, and the best part is when I re-visit a friend's photo album, see a cool pic, want to make a comment -- and scroll down to see that I've made practically the EXACT SAME comment a year ago. I'm so predictable Fun times!

But thats so sweetly comforting too, isn't it?

 

[GemFever]

Re: Are there any nice diamonds to be found in Antique Marke

Oh, and the best part is when I re-visit a friend's photo album, see a cool pic, want to make a comment -- and scroll down to see that I've made practically the EXACT SAME comment a year ago. I'm so predictable Fun times!

But thats so sweetly comforting too, isn't it?

That's a nice way of looking at it I suppose some things should be constant in this world! If my ering carat weight doesn't remain the same throughout the years, let my facebook comments be a pillar of stability

 

[Aerix]

Re: Are there any nice diamonds to be found in Antique Marke

Xiriah, thanks for the link! I am in the ATL area often, since my folks live there.

But you say you've been to this Antique Market, and no jewelry? Maybe it's just not worth going them. I'm not actually interested in any other antique things... or rather, I'm sure I could find tons of neat stuff, but our apartment is small and I want to avoid the temptation to clutter

Intergem is pretty good for vintage jewelry. There are unlikely to be steals, but you can bargain and get decent prices. And soo much pretty stuff to look at! I'm countin' the days till Intergem comes to town!

Scott's Antique Market has jewelry! Quite a few vendors actually. People from all over the place join the show. Some are actual jewelers and some are ah, probably pickers selling some of the goods they've found and collected over the years. Aside from jewelry, there's furniture, vintage clothing, knick-knacks, etc. It's a big variety of stuff, it's almost overwhelming. I think I spent at least 2-3 hours checking out just the jewelry stands, and I didn't even ask about prices! Just ogled stuff. Oh, I also bumped into Richard Sherwood there. I mentioned that I was trying to sell a vintage ring of mine and he offered to consign it but I ended up selling it online through DB. He's a nice guy!

ETA: I've been to a few flea markets around north Georgia too. I rarely see jewelry and when I do, it's mostly sterling stuff. Still nice, but no diamonds.

 

[Jax172]

Re: Are there any nice diamonds to be found in Antique Marke

Yes! At least around where I live. There is one fantastic dealer I go see at Markets all the time. I get great prices from her.

 

[GemFever]

Re: Are there any nice diamonds to be found in Antique Marke

Thanks for your responses Xiriah and Jax! I'm sold -- I must go to an antique market! As soon as I finish a project for work and have a free weekend, I'm off!