Who Calling Widget!!!!

[isaku5]

I''ve looked through the Who''s Who section, but couldn''t find widget anywhere. I hope I''m right (if not, correct me) in thinking you live in northern California, have at least one son and are a grandma. In addition, you have a glorious collection of jewellery including the TDF asscher reset by LM, a sapphire and diamond ring also reset by LM, and lots of antique pieces.

I hope there''s more that widget will add.

 

[Skippy123]

Yah! Widget I would like to know more; I love your LM. I love your art deco diamond braclet

You are always so funny; I would love to know more about you!

Please spill . . .

 

[Linda W]

YES Widget. Please, we would love to hear all about you and how your collections started.

Linda

 

[widget]

Thanks for your interest, guys!

For starters, here''s a recent picture of me:

 

[widget]

LOL...just kidding...(or wishing!)

I hope you don''t mind if I keep my bio sort of sketchy:

Born and raised in So Cal, went to UC Berkeley, and have lived in No Cal ever since. Yes, I''m the grandmother of two gorgeous girls: 6 and 8. I have two WONDERFUL sons, one living in Florida and the other right here in town.

I think it''s generally accepted by my loved ones that the older I get, the more peculiar I get!

Is that sketchy enough?

I would absolutely LOVE to yammer on about my collection: how it started, where I''d like it to go from here, etc etc. Maybe later, if anyone''s interested..

Thanks for asking...I do hope it''s OK that I remain vague...

widget

 

[isaku5]

Looking at your picture, I can see we were twins separated at birth lol.

Please DO "yammer on" about your jewellery collections (complete with many pictures, I hope)

 

[Odilia]

Date: 5/7/2007 10:58:31 AM
Author: widget
LOL...just kidding...(or wishing!)

I hope you don''t mind if I keep my bio sort of sketchy:

I would absolutely LOVE to yammer on about my collection: how it started, where I''d like it to go from here, etc etc. Maybe later, if anyone''s interested..

Thanks for asking...I do hope it''s OK that I remain vague...

widget

I can totally understand wanting the bio to remain sketchy, but I''m sure we would all LOVE to hear you yammer on about your collection as you mentioned!!

 

[Linda W]

Widget,

That can''t be a picture of you, that is ME!!!! ha ha ha ha.

Would love to hear about your collection and how it started.

Linda

 

[jcrow]

yammer away

 

[Miranda]

Wow Widget! You are one hot gramma

! I''m so glad this was started. You are one of my favorite PSers. I love that you always have such nice things to add to threads. Yes, yammer away! I''d love to hear about your beautiful jewelry.

 

[widget]

Miranda! You''re so sweet! And it''s funny you should pop in. I just now finished doing a "photo shoot" of my babies.

Here, as briefly as I can is my "jewelry story". Interestingly, I really wasn''t "into" jewelry too much until I reached my ''30s. I grew up in a family (and conseqently married into another one) where jewelry was NEVER purchased by the wife....ONLY by the husband as a gift for her....and then, not too often!) My Mom...for all of her life, and I...when I was younger, wore mostly costume jewelry.

It was probably during the last ten years or so of my parents'' lives that I really started taking interest. The older and frailer they got, the more time I spent at their home in the Palm Springs area in So Cal. I lived with them sometimes months at a time. For amusement (and to maintain sanity) I started spending a LOT of time window shopping...antique stores and jewelry stores, mainly. Not far from their home was El Paseo Drive (sort of a " Rodeo Drive of the Desert"). I''m sure I got the ''bling bug'' there.

More later...

widget

 

[Linda W]

Widget you are on a roll. Please don''t stop now

Linda

 

[widget]

Thanks, Linda! (I had to go over and see what was going on in the "Goodbye" thread..

)

My ''bug'' then was satisfied by windowshopping, collecting jewelry books, and subscribing to Sotheby catalogues. (I have a mountain of them!)

It was only after my Mom was gone that I actually started "buying" rather than just "looking". Other than her incredible diamond (my dad sure got THAT right!) she had mostly ''50s cocktail rings that he''d given her over the years. (Different colored gemstones to go with different outfits..)

I sold almost everything I inherited (too quickly and too ignorantly, I now realize) and started looking for things that I liked. And thus it began...

I distinctly remember the first "real" ring I bought for myself..(a YG estate ring long since traded away). I broke into a sweat and almost had apoplexy plunking down $1500 for a jewel for myself. My, times they have-a changed!

I made tons of mistakes. I still have very few the things I bought during the "early years'' of collecting. I saved this one, though, for sentimental reasons. It was my first "antique". It''s probably an old hat pin, later fashioned into a pinky ring. It cost $400:

 

[widget]

Did I say I made plenty of mistakes? LOL...I cringe to think of it..

But I did get better and better, more educated, and considerably more extravagant!

What I look for is something that I WILL WEAR. I finally figured out that having something that languishes in the safe for years on end...no matter how beautiful...is silly. Hense: no brooches or necklaces. My true loves are antique-cut diamonds, colored gemstones, and Art Deco....not necessarily in that order. Finding all these lusts satisfied in one piece is like finding the Holy Grail. (My emerald ring qualifies...)

I''ve decided that in the years ahead like to refine my collection... even decrease it''s size (God knows I have ''enough'' already

) in favor of improving the quality, rarity, ''collectibility'' of it. This means that I hope any future acquisitions will be REPLACEMENTS of something I already have. (

won''t be easy...I''m in love with almost everything I have.) The ONLY thing I have that isn''t potentially tradable is my Mom''s asscher.

OK. Here come the ''family portraits''. (Getting them all to look nice at once is a challenge..I have new respect for school photographers!)

First: Rings...

 

[widget]

....bracelets:

 

[widget]

...earrings:

 

[widget]

....and finally...watches:

 

[Linda W]

OMG Widget,

What a collection. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL AND GORGEOUS. You are so lucky and what fabulous taste your have. Are the green stones all Emeralds??? I see that gorgeous PAD sticking out there.

LOVE those bracelets and earrings

Linda

 

[Linda W]

Those watches are to die for. Sooooooooooo beautiful. You certainly have jewelry that are treasures Widget.

 

[Linda W]

Widget,

If you don''t mind me asking, which ring do you wear the most?????

I favor one of my pads over the other.

Linda

 

[belle]

let''s play ''guess widget''s stone collection''

of course, i already know them all, as i have been drooling over every equisite piece she has ever posted.

i''m so glad you have taken the time to tell about yourself and your jewelry widget! thanks for sharing!

 

[decodelighted]

If you notice the very bottom right corner of your Ring Photo fading ... it''s because I''ve been LICKING IT.

That red stone (can''t remember what) and the Emerald three stone are my #2 & #3 ... you know, after Mom''s Asscher.

 

[Linda W]

Widget, Love the opal too, I think that is what it is?? I will take your Pad if you are tired of it. Tee hee.

 

[Miranda]

All of your pieces are beyond gorgeous! I love them all! Thanks for sharing. i know which page to go to when I just need to sit and drool!!!!!

 

[widget]

Thanks, everybody!

Let's see: Linda, the ones I wear most frequently (lately anyway), are the asscher, the blue sapph, the pad and the EC bracelet. Oh, and the OEC studs.

The only emerald I have is in the ring Deco's been licking.

There's a pear shaped tsavorite ring, too. Everything else that's green is opal.

Deco: The red one on the bottom is a spinel...

widget

 

[Love in Bloom]

Widget, you are my peculiar hero

You fervently sparked my interest in Star Rubies, mostly because Ruby is my birthstone and because I didn''t even know star rubies existed until I saw your Star Ruby gondola ring when I was on a Van Craeynest picture hunt. I must ask, are rubies your birthstone as well??

 

[Kaleigh]

I love hearing more about you!!!! Keep it coming!!!

 

[Madam Bijoux]

Widget, thank you for showing all of your collection in one thread. I love estate jewelry, too.

 

[kcoursolle]

Widget, what an awesome thread! It''s been great hearing about you and viewing your amazing collection. It''s been like visiting an antique jewelry store.

Can I trouble you for some more pics of your diamond bezel stud earrings? They look gorgeous and I''d like to get a better look at them. I''m so glad you decided to post your collection, it''s awesome to see it all in one thread!

 

[jcrow]

wow! what a collection!
can you tell us a little bit more about your watches?