Customer Reviews

20th Century Costume Jewelry, 1900-1980 (Identification & Values (Collector Books))

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book was purchased along with the sister, companion, Brilliant Rhinestones. While I can appreciate the time that the author has devoted to her book (per review on Brilliant Rhinestones obviously by the author's husband) feel that the quality of the photographs is very poor. When I spend money like this on a book, expect jewelry that looks like I want to reach out and pick it up. Many of the darker items are washed out in the background. Felt that the prices were a little overinflated. The concepts for the books are excellent, but this author needs to work on her photography.

I have been collecting, buying, and selling antique & vintage costume jewelry for a number of years, and have consequently learned much about the jewelry, designers, and history of this artistic medium. I have also compiled quite a library of reference books thru these years.

This is why I do not completely understand the negative reviews that have been written about this book. At the time I received the book it was exactly what I needed to help me appreciate, and value, the many unsigned jewelry pieces I had acquired!

The book is very well organized with tips for the care of costume jewelry, short synopses of some major designers, choosing jewelry styles, etc. It also covers crystal jewelry: a type that has gotten little mention from other authors, Avon jewelry, signed and unsigned bead jewelry, gold tone & silver tone jewelry, silver, rhinestones, floral designs, and much more, giving short histories, dates and values of each featured piece.

I found no fault with the quality of the photos other than that some of them were a little dark, but not so much that one could not see the detailing of the designs. And, I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions Mrs. & Miss Aikins gave to the pieces. You can tell from these that they researched, extensively, each jewelry piece presented in the book.

I consider this book to be the 'fill in the gaps" resource I needed to add to my costume jewelry reference library! I use it each time I need to find information on those some of those old (and not so old) "mystery" jewelry pieces that give no clues as to era, designer, or type of materials. And, I usually find something that will "put me on the right track!"

As far as I'm concerned this is a 5 star book!

This book would have benefitted from a lot more research and from inclusion of pieces other than the personal collection of Ms. Aikins and her mother. There are numerous incorrect dates - the most glaring of which consist of labelling aurora borealis pieces as being from the 40's or even 30's when the process didn't exist until about 1953. The descriptions are too "cutesy" rather than factual - ex labelling yellow and black pieces "for Steelers fans" and elephants "for Republicans." Some necklaces are measured by hanging length, others apparently by total length. The list goes on and on. It certainly would be a bad choice for a beginner to rely on, and a more seasoned collector would find it maddening. Give this one a pass.

I recieved this book today, and for the first time ever, I am returning a book to Amazon. I was expecting beautiful Jewelry from the 1900's onwards. What is in the book, is 15 pages of AB glass necklaces, umpteen pins/brooches necklaces etc that I would have bypassed at a yard sale, not to mention many pages pages of low quality pieces with HUGE unrealistic valuation prices. Very misleading for a novice collector, they will think that a cheesy 10 year old christmas bell brooch is really worth over $80! No war time sterling, no quality Trifari,Coro, Boucher, Mazer etc. I don't wish to sound mean but in this day and age of umpteen Jewelry books being published these ladies really need to up their game to a much higher standard. Save your money, DO NOT BUY.

PHOTOS ARE VERY NICE IN BOOK BUT TEXT DOES NOT CONTAIN ANY INFORMATION OF ANY VALUE.COMMENTS SUCH AS THIS PIECE IS ADORABLE ,HEAD TURNING NECKLACE ETC.NOT VERY INFORMATIVE DID NOT FIND THIS BOOK TO BE USEFUL.

I have been collecting and selling costume jewelry for over 15 years now. I have over 70 books on the subject and am constantly doing research and learning more. The author doesn't know what Delizza & Elster aka Juliana jewelry is! She has many pieces in her book that she is amazed aren't signed, but doesn't know that they are D&E pieces, one of THE hottest jewelry designers around. Don't bother with her book, there are many more out there that are far better.

This book has wonderful pictures of vintage jewelry. It has helped me identify and given me some history about pieces that have acquired. The price guide is helpful if you want to sell to your friends.

I found this book to contain a beautiful collection of rare vintage pieces. To put down a book of this caliber displays an absolute absence of taste and appreciation of the collector, and the collected. Touche, touche! It seems there are many amateur collectors, with strong words and uneducated opinions.

Thank you Amazon for offering this wonderful book. I plan to spend a lot of time with it.
It has been very helpful and the price is well worth it.
Thank You,sanklo.

I have to disagree with the other review about the value guides in this book, these guides are exactly on what they do sell for on Ruby lane or ebay. This is one of the lesser assigned value guide books I own.

I found this book very good for my research and although the photographs are a little less than I expected, they show the item well enough there are only a few that look less than professional.

The book released in 2005 reflects current pricing and value. I do not understand how the other reviewer said they were grossly off?? The market changes, one year a necklace will sell for 200.00 the next year perhaps 100.00, with the gas issue and the war the higher value guide book frankly are a bit off. This book I feel is more on value then the others.. The AB crystal necklace section I did find a bit high on the values though..That is about the only part I agree on with the other reviewer.

The values given in collection books usually are used for insurance and not for actual sale.. This si why they are usually higher than what they would sell for on the market.
That is why you find such a difference in pricing..

Your best bet is to watch ebay and ruby lane for current pricing on an item and what they actually sell for. But keep in mind that there has been a lull in costume jewelry that should pick up real soon but who knows as the war continues and gas prices climb to 4.00+.. (yikes)

Use these books to estimate the value, this is a range to use not a written in stone on top of a mountain rule as are all collector books!


I suggest getting this book because it does have a large assortment of different types of jewelry as well as compacts and belts.

What I didn't like about it is that it is not in any kind of real order. Also there was a marked lack of Juliana jewelry. There is no information about the makers, only photo value and description. However, I use other books for that. I got this book because I wanted to see a varity of items not just Trifari, Coro.. etc.

Still a good book to own because there is a lot of unusual signed and unsigned jewelry in it.