Jewelry Road Trip: Heart of Ohio Antique Center

Before summer slips away, I wanted to squeeze in one more road trip for this year!  Six hours away, in a town called Springfield is the Heart of Ohio Antique Center.  It boasts 116,000 square feet of antiques and curiosities, from over 650 dealers!  After a long six hour drive, I was happy to see their state of the art facility, so although they sell old items, their building is far from antique.  It is air conditioned, well organized, light and bright, even has a lounge area with a big screen tv.  Our first stop was their cafe, which had delicious food and daily specials. Glancing around while quickly eating and making a game plan, we studied the map of the building and got started!

There are eight different “aisles” each pretty long and double-sided with antiques.  Most of the fine jewelry and antique jewelry is directly when you walk in, located in the tall glass cabinets.  It takes a minute to focus in on each piece, because there are lots of rings that are maybe from the 1980s/90s that are commercial quality…but mixed in you can spot some more antique pieces from the late 1800s and 1920s/30s.  I like taking things out and trying on, because a ring can really come to life when worn.  With security being important to them, it was hard to try on things and then put them to the side or try on multiple items because it was strictly one item at a time and it had to be put back right after looking.  I immediately was drawn to this 18k yellow gold coral and sapphire vintage ring.  The only coral rings I have are carved cameos from the Victorian Era, so I thought it would be a great one to add to my collection.  

Also fell for a few other rings, not pictured unfortunately, but were pretty unique–for some reason I didn’t feel the need to purchase.  One was a double row eternity band, set with multi-gemstone cabochon cut stones.  The other was an opaque opal that had some wild bright enameling going on.  Would have totally bought it if it didn’t have purple butterflies mixed in with the enamel work.  Not a fan of butterflies!  

Other items that did go home with me were a vintage gold satin clutch and an antique printers type set drawer that has been turned into a wall hanging shelf.  I was thinking of putting my rocks, minerals and gem specimens in each slot, hanging from the wall.  All in all, it was a fun, really quick trip with my mom and sister–although we meant to stay at a hotel, the one I had planned on staying at was booked solid when we got there, so we ended up driving all the way back the same day!  I’m exhausted…but it is all worth it for the hunt!