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

  • REGENCY JEWELS

    Good morning, Yesterday I finished the unit on REGENCY JEWELS. It can be found in Chapter Two of Collecting Costume Jewelry 404 (available from the red ribbon or by clicking on the cover of the book). REGENCY JEWELS designs are sometimes mistaken for Schreiner and Weiss designs. Many sets feature high-end Austrian crystals and art…

  • Weiss

    Jewelry by Albert Weiss has been added to Chapter Two Part Two of Collecting Costume Jewelry 404. I hope you enjoy it. Except for the Weiss pieces I love to wear, my Weiss jewelry has been stored for many, many years. It was fun looking at it again. My Weiss jewelry was stored in cotton…

  • Schreiner Jewelry Co. Inc.

    After many weeks of work, I finished the Schreiner Jewelry Chapter in Collecting Costume Jewelry 404. It can be accessed from the Table of Contents under Chapter Two. It is a primer for beginning collectors on the innovative and often distinctive Schreiner designs and recognizable Schreiner jewelry construction traits. The Schreiner designs featured in this…

  • Happy Holidays

    I want to wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season. Thank you for continuing to check my website. I’m amazed at the number of visitors I receive each day from all over the world. I have not written many new blogs the last few weeks because I’m working on adding two major brands to Collecting Costume…

  • Les Bernard Jewelry

    1963 – 1996 Les Bernard jewelry has an interesting history and features lovely designs created with innovative techniques. Today these designs are affordable for collectors with many pieces selling for under $100.00. Brief History Les Bernard jewelry was named for founders: Bernard Shapiro and Lester Joy. Bernard Shapiro was the son of well-respected Vogue Jewelry…

  • Pieces I Love by BB Sterling and Norma Sterling

    Over the years many different brands of jewelry have passed in and out of my collection. It is a joy to sort through the collection today to rediscover some pieces I stored simply because I love them. The following BB Sterling fish pin and Norma Sterling talking birds pin are two examples of sweet pieces…

  • Emmons, Sarah Coventry Revisited

    Today, on this cold, rainy morning, I found a wonderful article at www.antiquetrader.com titled “Home Party Jewelry Remembered” by Pamela Wiggins Siegel published November 8, 2022. Her articles are always well-written, easy to read, and carefully researched so it was a pleasure to enjoy the article with my morning coffee. It prompted me to revisit…

  • Selro/Selini Revisited

    As a collector, I purchased signed jewelry from many different brands. However, only my favorite pieces, from any one brand, made it into my collection. The two sets shown below are signed Selro and/or Selini and are the only remaining pieces from this brand in my collection. A fabulous article on Selro/Selini jewelry titled “Selro…

  • Otis Sterling

    This beautiful Otis Sterling necklace is shown on the cover of Collecting Costume Jewelry 303 published in 2010. At that time, there was little information on the company. Due to a 2017 beautifully researched and photographed article by Barbara Schwartz and Robin Deutsch titled “Bracelets by Otis: A Surprising Connection”, we know more about the…

  • Capri Jewelry

    The historical information online for Capri Jewelry, Inc. varies almost as widely as the designs of the jewelry. Most sources agree that Capri Jewelry was founded in 1949 by Sol Smith. The company then merged with DeNicola in 1973. At this time the jewelry from both companies was signed Capri with the copyright symbol. By…