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Hi Andrea Yes I've drooled over the jewellery on Romanovrussia.com many a time. Got to love those demantoid garnets, but never seen one in the flesh. Are you familiar with the London Bus Phenomenon? (Never see one, then two come along at once). Strangely a few weeks ago I also scored a...

Hi Andrea, Yes the gold work is pretty good, and certainly hand done, it is stamped with the French Eagle Head control mark for 18ct. To protect the interests of the various parties to the sale I'd prefer not to disclose what I paid. Suffice to say this one is a long term keeper and rockets...

Hi all, Pearls and cameos make a great combination, and after the little photo essay below let's see people's favorite examples. I recently had the good fortune to discover an important historical cameo, and would love to share it, under the pretense of a little bit of info about French...

Hi Andrea, actually I'm not a French speaker, except basic school boy French from 40 years ago. However Google Translate does it for me!

Hi Andrea, cool info, thanks. From what I can see on that first site, the artist/jeweler JF Ferrandon is based in Papeete, French Polynesia. I think the Facebook page is their website / selling site. Some pieces are marked with prices in CFP (Pacific Francs). 1 US Dollar = about 90 Pacific...

Hi lastdanceforus What are your concerns about the necklace? It looks good to me. I've handled and owned lots of vintage Mikimoto items. The clasp is genuine and the pearls look to be typical Mikimoto quality. I would say you have a very nice vintage Mikimoto necklace, maybe circa 1980. I...

Hi Dawn, just a thought, after looking at pics of Art Nouveau necklaces, quite a few of the classic designs are based around swags, like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/121241222728 and this (from http://www.langantiques.com/university/index.php/Necklaces). Don't know if that gorgeous central...

Hi there, I'm not sure if anyone has ever pointed out Ben David clasps to this forum? Here's a link to their catalogs: http://www.bendavidclasps.com/index.php The one with the truly extraordinary clasps is the catalog on the right, (The Clasp Book 2012). The further into the catalog your get...

Hi All, the Tiffany Opal Necklace went for $125,000 inclusive of buyers premium (vs estimate $30k-$40k). The Natural and Cultured Pearl, Diamond, Sapphire, Platinum-Topped Gold Convertible Necklace, French that everyone liked went for a quite reasonable $11,875 inc premium (vs est. $7k-9k)...

Well it is a genuine Mikimoto clasp, this style of clasp dates to the late 1940's through 1950's period. In my experience Mikimotos of that era were usually off-white to cream, with typical slightly green Akoya overtones, and always pretty close to round. I agree, these one do not look "right"...

Hi madsciencechik, well spotted, that is certainly the same Antique Opal Necklace from Antiques Roadshow, what a fantastic provenance the item has. Here's the link to the Auction item which has already met it's $25,000 reserve, will be fascinating to see how high it goes...

Heritage Auctions has some interesting pieces coming up in their jewelry auction next week, this search will show the naturals: http://jewelry.ha.com/c/search-results.zx?N=776+793+794+791+792+2088+4294952795&chkNotSold=0&Ntk=SI_Titles&Nty=1&Ntt=natural+pearl The above link may expire after the...

Hi Dawn, wow love those clasps, the one with the 3 diamonds is amazing and they look like nice pearls, ditto the one with the sapphire. You sure have a lot of naturals!

Right - total trash then, I will delete from my watch list!

Whoa that is one cool necklace, or should I say 4 cool necklaces made into one. Very interesting that your clientele for these naturals are often people from India, guess they appreciate the treasures that come from nearby locales. While I understand that P-G is a non-commercial and...

Hi Dave, this is off my local craigs list, could probably get it for $20, I have no no idea of what sort of oyster, or its rarity. Owner thinks it is something special cause it has so many pearls in one shell. If you want it let me know and I'll try and snipe it.

The Japanese certainly have a unique aesthetic.

Hi, in my experience of vintage Mikimoto screw back earrings, the "M in a clamshell" Mikimoto hallmark is usually on the outside end of screw-in head. They look like a Mikimoto design to me, the millgrain edge on the leaves is quite disinctive. I'd say they were well loved, the small pearls...

Hi there, I've seen sellers who tell this story, and I personally believe it is just that, a story. When I look at the brooches and clasps where the mark was supposedly removed I see no evidence that marks have been polished out. To polish a piece down to the point where a mark was removed...

Hi Isi, Consider the owner has put together 300 pearls, which may be one of the largest groupings in the world assembled in recent times. However there must be millions of natural pearls in the world, billions of cultured Akoya pearls, and trillions of cultured FWP's (OK I'm making those...