I’ve been going through my jewelry box lately because it is something I do every year around this time (and also because of baby on the way). I came across some lockets piled up in a section of my jewelry box. My first love, and what got me into treasure hunting on eBay was collecting vintage gold-filled lockets. I was in high school during this phase and would look online after I finished my homework. I used my leftover spending money from my job I had at a clothing store at the local mall. These lockets have so many memories!
One great thing about this is I learned how to bid on eBay–I quickly figured out when the best time to bid would be, how to place a max bid, when to ask questions on items, etc. All this laid the foundation to what I do now. It was smart for me to start with something small and inexpensive, gradually and over time bidding on larger items with bigger price tags.
I’ve also always loved charms, and these became my next obsession after lockets. This phase happened in college when I discovered Jewelry Television — when I would not only watch their programming but also bid on their online auctions. I would mostly buy 10k gold pendants with various gemstones. I remember buying a bold citrine pendant with three dangles hanging off of it and wearing it to college every day. I actually don’t have any of those pendants anymore, but they were another stepping stone into my career and collection of jewelry.
My charm and pendant obsession was put on the back burner in my next phase of collecting–that’s because I discovered my love for RINGS. This was around the same time I first began Gem Gossip. Lots of pendants were turned into rings and only rings were purchased for several years. But, I always say, you come back around to what you truly love and your first loves. Lately, that has been charms and pendants…but this time around I’m collecting ones that are meaningful to me, sentimental to me and often have a common theme.
Above, you can see some of my pendants and charms from my personal collection — obvious themes of heart shapes and gemstone talismans. In the last photo, here are where I got/where you can buy each of these charms in case you were wondering!
Left to right:
Abalone and gold charm — I bought abalone pieces at a gem show and had my jeweler drill and make them into charms (most broke but 3 survived)
Gold M charm — M is for Miele my last name and also for Matt my husband, its vintage and I purchased at the Miami Antique Show last year
Tumbled opal charm — I started out with 15 of these and currently have two left (this was the one I kept for myself)
Gothic style number 8 — this is my lucky number and I bought this charm at New Top Jewelry in NYC (located in China Town near Little Italy)
The Light You Shed Will Spread charm — this sweet mother of pearl charm was made in limited quantities over the holiday from Catbird
Jean Jean Vintage cachet collection charm — everyone needs one of these little talismans from Jean Jean
Abalone heart charm — from Catbird
