Collecting Costume Jewelry 101

My name is Julia C. Carroll. I’m the author of four books on collecting costume jewelry. Welcome to my Collecting Costume Jewelry 101 webpage and BLOG for beginning and intermediate collectors!

Thank you to everyone who purchased and enjoyed my books. The four titles below are unfortunately out-of-print and only available in the secondary market.

However, there is good news!

For fun, I wrote Collecting Costume Jewelry 404 The Basics of Recognizing Great Design. It is available to read for FREE by clicking on the Collecting Costume Jewelry 404 cover. Of course, the information is copy protected, so permission is required to copy the text or photos.

The Information link on the red ribbon leads to additional reference materials and articles.

My weekly jewelry blog follows. Scroll down to read previous entries or click the BLOG INDEX link below for an alphabetical list of past blogs.

BLOG INDEX

  • Elizabeth Cole Jewelry

    I’m happy to announce that Elizabeth Cole Jewelry has been added to Chapter Four, Collecting Costume Jewelry 404. Stephanie Owen is the founder and designer of Elizabeth Cole Jewelry – she named it after her sister. The designs are distinctive, recognizable and very, very well-made in the United States! I studied dozens of “contemporary” costume…

  • Chapter Four

    Introduction, Alexis Bittar The introduction and first entry for Chapter Four are posted. I hope you enjoy them. The goal of this Chapter is to identify contemporary brands producing quality costume jewelry designs today, that have the potential to be the collectibles of tomorrow. Potential is the key word here. This whole process is speculative…

  • Nolan Miller Goddess

    Two pieces of Nolan Miller Goddess collection have been added to the Nolan Miller gallery. FYI, I started working on Chapter Four for Collecting Costume Jewelry 404 and I hope to begin adding it to the site soon. Have a safe and fun holiday! Happy Collecting, Love, Julie

  • Jewelry 10

    Today I want to share with you some basic research information on the hand-made jewelry brand “Jewelry 10”. The jewelry is beautifully made, distinctive, and whimsical. I acquired an example of this jewelry, the elephant pin shown below, so I could better appreciate the artistry of this brand. Additional designs, all delightful, are available online…

  • Hutton Wilkinson

    Sometimes I buy a single piece from a brand, something with a wonderful design, to have the hands-on experience of studying the construction and the fun of researching the brand. Today, I want to share with you a beautiful bracelet by Hutton Wilkinson. While it is not unusual for fashion designers to also create jewelry…

  • Regency Christmas

    The beauty of some holiday gifts extends beyond the beauty of the object received. This is the case with the Regency brooch shown below. It is a Christmas gift from my daughter so I will love it forever. It is also an especially lovely Regency design. The blue art glass beads are teardrop in shape…

  • “…obviously by Trifari”

    Today I want to share my latest jewelry acquisition. It is a 1958 Trifari crystal brooch and earrings set. The 1958 advertisement showing this pin can be found in Anne Mitchell Pitman’s book Inside the Jewelry Box Volume 3, page 198 or on www.morninggloryantiques.com. The advertisement features six different pins called Pins à–la-mode! (The title…

  • Iradj Moini Bug

    Good morning, Today I want to tell you the story of how I acquired my first – and only – piece of Iradj Moini jewelry. Iradj Moini has been designing jewelry in New York since 1989. He designed jewelry for Oscar de la Renta and is respected worldwide for his “imaginative and visionary” designs. [iradjmoini.com]…

  • Givenchy, Anne Klein, 80s Monet

    Happy Tuesday! Today three entries for Chapter Three, Part I were added: Givenchy, Anne Klein, and 80s Monet. I worked simultaneously on these three brands because they share many mid-1980s recognizable traits. These shared traits define the 1980s jewelry aesthetic. Jewelry designs from the 80s – 90s are often chunky pieces with distinctive gold plating.…

  • Thank You to a friend!

    Good morning, Today I want to thank my friend Julie (yes, we share the same first name) for posting the information about my blog/website on Facebook which resulted in a HUGE increase in traffic on the site. My goal is to write, research, and share my love of jewelry with other collectors. Julie’s generous post…