A Deeper Look Into My Personal Collection

The Jewelry Collection Stories section of my blog has been a favorite of mine since starting it back in 2014. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to share almost 40 collections from some of the most fascinating antique jewelry collectors out there. I wanted to delve into my own personal collection, because although I do have a My Jewel Box category on my blog, over the years I realized it has become slightly neglected. I would acquire a new piece and either post it on Instagram only or stash it in my collection (often forgetting about it). So I felt this was my chance to dig out all my jewels and tell you about them! I’m also really excited to get back into blogging again after taking a hiatus while the new website was being worked on.

I’ve said this multiple times in interviews, to know me you have to know that I am first and foremost a collector at heart. I was 100% born this way, as my mother can attest and most of my memories from childhood involve my early collections. My maternal grandmother is a major collector–I remember visiting her growing up, she lived in a cabin up about a mile into the woods/mountains. My gram would have walls of shelves featuring her teapots (her biggest collection), her tin boxes, wolf and owl figurines, a pile of doilies, her Christmas village, printer’s drawers filled with tiny trinkets decorating the walls, and probably much more that I don’t remember/don’t know of.

My paternal grandmother was born in Italy and she had a love for jewelry, especially gold Italian jewelry. Some of my first memories about jewelry involve her coming home from trips to Italy with my grandfather, and gifting each granddaughter a gold piece of jewelry. I honestly think the two influences from both grandmothers have combined to form me!  I’ve been collecting jewelry since I was maybe 10 or 11 years old, but more seriously for fifteen years now.

I have a large collection of “sentimental” pieces, like my first ring I got off eBay, my mom’s first ring my dad gave her on a date they went on, my grandparents’ wedding bands from when they were married in Italy, my baptismal medal, a St. Anthony medal gifted to me by my dad before I left for college (which I wore every single day while I was away), and a few more. These pieces I could never part with and make up an important part of my collection.

Some things about my collection you may not know:

1 — I don’t own a single ruby: red hues for me aren’t my thing in jewelry

2 — I own two watches, one is from my grandpa and the other, which I wear everyday, used to be my dad’s he wore in the 80s

3 — I think I can improve most on my earring game! I don’t have too many earrings and often wear the same ones everyday

4 — I have sold over 100 rings from my personal collection over the past couple years, current count is at 250 minus my baby rings

5 — Recently really gotten into charms, some of which I’ve designed myself from gem finds in Tucson

6 — The highest amount I’ve spent on a single piece of jewelry is $3,500 and that was for my husband’s wedding band

From my Figa collection, to date rings, and all my elongated diamond Edwardian rings, I’ve surely amassed something I can’t seem to quite figure out how this happened?! I guess I would account it to something slow and steady, and it has brought me such joy to collect jewelry over the years. It has also led me to meet some of the best people ever, some of whom I consider to be my best friends.

Here is a list of favorite places and where I’ve gone to amass my collection over the course of 15 years:

1 — Auction sites like eBay, EBTH, and all the amazing auction houses across the US and world (which I’m constantly writing about)

2 — flea markets like Brimfield, Scotts Antique Market, Portobello Rd and loads more in different regions

3 — traveling to different shops and stores across the US

4 — pawn shops across the US and people I’ve met online that know “Gem Gossip would love this”

5 — Websites that specialize in antique jewelry and people on Instagram

6 — Ruby Lane and Etsy

7 — Jewelry shows, like Miami Antique Show or Las Vegas Antique Show (there’s a bunch more)

If there are any specific pieces you’d like to know about, just let me know!  I’m going to be sharing some more personal collection stories featuring individual items on my Instagram Story daily. Also, if YOU are a collector and want to see your collection featured on Gem Gossip, send me an email or message me using the Contact page. I’m excited to get back on track with the new blog redesign and sharing at least one new collection per month.