Fall Table Decorations

Fall is the beginning of the entertainment season. Dinners in the dining room, cocktail parties around the coffee table, intimate conversations in front of the fireplace. Simple country style decorations can be elegant or shabby chic. Suit your personality, but wow your guests anyway!

Here at Vintages we have some neat decorative items for your table. Natural pumpkins made of fabric, twigs and leave. Glass leaves, grapes and garlands. Wooden houses that light up.

Come on in and check these out ... and see our Halloween collection as well.

Pumpkins made from natural materials (from $13.95 each)

Fabric pumpkins (from $24.95 each); 6" Calla Lilly garland ($20.95 each)

Small Paperweight Leaves ($3 each) • Sea creatures & flowers also available.

Glass Grape Clusters in several colors ($4.99 each)

Lighted Houses and Bird Houses (from $27.95 each)

 Some of these are available online, but as usual we have a much greater selection on display in the shop.

Opal: October's Birthstone

Opal ... that beautiful, fiery stone that has both intrigued and mystified women for centuries. While many cultures have considered opals a gift from heaven and an omen of good luck, its negative reference in a Sir Walter Scott novel (Anne of Geierstein) in 1929 caused a precipitous drop in opal sales and brought about the fear of bad luck and death from the stone. Queen Victoria did not buy into the superstition, wearing and collecting opals throughout her reign.

Queen Victoria with Opal Bracelet • Photo courtesy of kingopal.com.au

In 1954 the Australian Government presented Queen Elizabeth II with one of the world's most famous opals - the Andamooka Opal (or Queen's Opal). This 203 carat opal is set into a wonderful necklet made of palladium.

Quee Elizabeth II with the Queen's Opal • Photo courtesy of kingopal.com.au

Rene Lalique found opals to his liking for his art nouveau jewelry. Both opal's color and carvability played well with his sinuous designs. Lalique made this diadem in the shape of a mermaid from antique bronze, emeralds and sculpted opal.

Rene Lalique Mermaid Diadem c.1897

The artist who carved the opal pendant on this necklace was a master.  Circa 1920, this carved opal leaf pendant is spectacular.

Sculpted Opal Pendant Necklace (Private Collection)

Here at Vintages, we have a small collection of very nice opal jewelry, from antique Victorian bar pins to modernist rings. Here is a selection that are available online.

Opal & Gold-filled Brooches: (clockwise from top left) Revival Opal Bar Pin ($59); Victorian Opal Clover Pin ($95); Victorian Opal & Amber Crystal Bar Pin ($75)

Opal Pendants (L-R: $35 & $22)

Modernist Silver Inlaid with Opal: Earrings and Ring ($69 each)

Arts & Crafts Stickpin with Fiery Opal Cabochon ($49)

For more photos and information about opals visit King Opal, an interesting and informative site from one of the larger Australian opal suppliers.

Handcrafted Jewelry by Anju

Vintages recently added a couple of new lines of handcrafted jewelry. These wonderful pieces are crafted by Anju. Anju is from India, where she was surrounded by that rich culture, captivated by the beauty of her environs and raised in a creative world. Her jewelry is distinctive -- geometric, yet organic -- expressive and detailed. We are proud to offer a wide selection of earrings and necklaces from this Atlanta artist.

All of Anju's jewelry is made of pewter, which is coated with silver, copper or brass to create the distinctive visual effects. These pieces are nickel- and lead-free, and varnished for protection. We have them in stock now at Vintages for only $18.95 each. 

Blue Sapphire: September's Birthstone

Sapphire is such a beautiful gemstone. While it comes in a wide variety of colors, blue is by far the most beautiful. Sapphire and ruby are both members of the corundum family of gems. The red colors are called rubies, while the others are denoted as sapphires. The differences in colors are due to the inclusion of impurities. Like rubies, sapphires are very hard, are generally low in flaws, except when needle-like inclusions referred to as silk occur. It is the silk which causes the brilliant six-pointed star effect.

The many colors of sapphires.

Some of the largest faceted gemstones in the world are sapphires. The Smithsonian Institute's National Gem Collection has two spectacular sapphires (among its many gems). One is the Logan Sapphire, a nearly 423 carat sapphire in a brooch setting surrounded by diamonds. The other is the Star of Bombay, a huge star sapphire from Sri Lanka.

Logan Sapphire

Star of Bombay Sapphire

One exceptional feature of sapphires is that an expert craftsman can carve these gemstones to create wonderful images and designs. This carved sapphire dates back to around 1900.

Beautifully carved sapphire.

Vintages has several pieces of excellent sapphire jewelry. I especially love these 1920s bar pins and ring set in hand crafted white gold settings and two of which feature calibre cut sapphires, a favorite of the finest jewelry designers of that era.

Edwardian 18K White Gold Sapphire Ring ($995)

Edwardian Sapphire Jewelry: TL to BR: Ring ($995); 18K White Gold Sapphire & Diamond Bar Pin ($395); 14K White Gold Sapphire & Diamond Bar Pin ($325)

These earrings are much earlier, probably 1860s or 1870s.

Victorian 20K Gold Earrings with Sapphires & Pearls ($495)

The ring is circa 1970 and is romantically inscribed Amore-Carol 1970.

14K Gold Ring with a Star Sapphire & two Diamonds ($495)

Hattie Carnegie Egyptian Revival Snake Necklace

I just love over-the-top jewelry. Early Trifari Alfred Philippe designs, Miriam Haskell jewelry, Eisenberg statement brooches, even Lea Stein's celluloid acetate pins. These are some of the best. BUT it is hard to surpass the Egyptian Revival Collection introduced by Hattie Carnegie in the early 1960s. These are hard to find and highly collectible. Bracelets and brooches with scarabs, earrings and rings with bright coral, lapis and turquoise colored enamels, and necklaces with that and a lot more. We have this outlandish snake necklace. What more can be said?

Hattie Carnegie Egyptian Revival Snake Necklace ($695)

Game Boards

Years ago one of the most popular card games was Tripoli (aka Michigan Rummy). While you could buy a game box with everything in it from the likes of Milton Bradley, the lucky ones among us had Dads that made the boards themselves. Susan's Dad, Mike, made a Tripoli game board from a plywood panel reclaimed from a used crate. It really is cool! And we still have it. Take a look.

Mike's hand made Tripoli game circa 1950s

Here at Vintages we have a small selection of game boards. Some are new, some handmade, others are reproductions. But all of them are great and they are our featured product for August. Note: These are not listed online, but if you contact us, we will send further information.

Handmade Folk Art Checker Board by Peg St. Pierre 1994 ($98)

Handmade Folk Art Parchessi Board by Peg St. Pierre 1994 ($98)

Reproduction Tic-Tac-Toe Board ($59.95)

Reproduction Parchessi Board ($59.95)

Reproduction Ring Toss Board ($59.95)

Handmade Chinese Checkers Game Board ($89)

Artist created Spinning Game Wheel ($295)

Carnelian & Peridot: August's Birthstones

Carnelian, the traditional and ancient birthstone for August, is a versatile stone, comfortable in antique settings and yet popular in modernist jewelry as well. It is a form of chalcedony, which is basically quartz. Colors range from orange to blood red, the latter being the most prized color.

In jewelry, carnelian is used as beads and cabochons, or carved into wonderful shapes, like scarabs, cameos and the like. I have seen larger pieces carved into small statues, trinket boxes and handles for elaborate tools. It has been prized and used since antiquity when it was sourced off the surfaces of the Egyptian and Arabian deserts.

Carnelian intaglio with a Ptolemaic queen holding a sceptre, decorated with gemstones in a gold frame (1st century BC)

Peridot is an under-rated gemstone. It can be a beautiful bright green gem when faceted or a luscious pale green when displayed as a cabochon. In the 1830's and 1840's peridot was a favored stone, but its popularity truly rose at the end of the 19th century during the aesthetic period of the Victorian era (1890-1901) and the reign of Edward VII of England (1901-1910). The stone is still popular today, as it is a fine "substitute" for emeralds in less costly jewelry, adds an excellent sparkle to jade pieces when such glitz is desired, and is just plain pretty on its own.

Peridot, seed pearl & amethyst pendant in Suffragette colors c1910

We have a nice selection of carnelian and peridot jewelry at Vintages, both online and in the shop. Here is a sampling of our available selection.

Modernist sterling and carnelian earrings ($75)

Modernist sterling, carnelian and lapis pendant ($65)

Victorian mourning watch fob locket onyx & carnelian in 10K gold ($195)

Three carnelian rings in different settings ($49 to $69 each)

Three peridot bracelets: Top to Bottom: Sterling ($135); Sterling ($85); 14K white gold ($585)

14K gold drop earrings with peridot and jade ($245)

Three peridot rings in various settings ($69 to $99 each)