Customer Reviews

Cameos: A Pocket Guide With Values (A Schiffer Book for Collectors)

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4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The book is exactly what it says it is, a price guide. There isn't any history, how to tell what time the cameo is from, what the cameo is made of etc. Not exactly what I wanted but will come in handy for an idea of prices.

This book is geared towards cheaper (i.e. mass produced shell and glass) cameos and not enough on hardstone or lava cameos. It glosses over technique and history, which are essential to understanding value in the market place. The price guide is useless. The prices seem random and don't take workmanship or the marketplace into account. Is the cameo being offered for sale at a flea market? An auction house? A high-end antique jewelry shop in an urban area? On Ebay? Those are all distinct venues that generate different price points because the customer base is different. I was also disappointed that most of the cameos featured were of average quality and quite common, and not the high quality type that interest serious collectors.

This book contains photos of cameos made from many different materials, from plastic to shell to glass. But of the 160 pages it contains, only around 30 pages give any information about cameos. The rest of the pages are photos with prices. It really is just a price guide.

This is an interesting book about Cameos but only provides general knowledge on the subject. Though mainly a price guide, I find the price points way too high on some items, especially the smaller & lesser value cameos. There are many pictures of a great variety of cameos though.

This isn't as comprehensive as some other books on cameos but it has short, helpful explantions that augment other books I have on the subject.