Online Resources for Jewelry & Silver Collectors

20 years ago, it was necessary to have bookcases full of reference materials to be able to do one's job as an antique or collectibles dealer. Thanks to the internet, there are many fewer books that are required although books are still a major go to resource when identifying and cataloging pieces. It's just that now, thanks to the efforts of collectors and educators around the world who have put countless hours of work into sites dedicated to helping others identify, evaluate and enjoy their collections, there are dynamic online resources too.

In the vintage jewelry world, a premiere site used by many dealers is Researching Costume Jewels . This site with its thousands of entries, has information about the major players in the vintage and costume jewelry fields as well as tidbits about lesser know designers. This is always my first stop when I come across a designer whose name is not familiar to me. Then there is the beautiful Morning Glory Antiques, home of Jewel Chat and one of the finest educational sites available to both novice collectors and professional dealers. There are articles about periods, designers, construction and hundreds of high quality photographs for illustration. While there, don't miss Morning Glory Collects, the gallery of photos covering the wiest range of styles I have come across gathered in one location. No starting list can be complete without a thank you to the online Encyclopedia of Silver Marks, Hallmarks, & Makers Marks. This extraordinary site offers photos and sketches of thousands of hallmarks from around the world for silver of most grades and is now also including some information about gold and silverplate hallmarks. Make sure to visit the forum in the resources section; this is a site that I can easily lose myself for hours at a time.

Another greatly valued type of resource by me are the online collectors groups, groups in which collectors, dealers, beginners and seasoned professionals gather to discuss their passion for jewelry. These forums are run by moderators, have specific rules and specific topics; to join you have to request membership and follow the sign up instructions. Make sure you say a quick Hi to the group when you are ready - lurkers are welcome but you'll get a lot more from membership if you fully join in. Jewelcollect , a forum for Collectors of Costume Jewelry, which has been on the web since 1995. It is in a newsgroup format which means that there is no website to which you can go to read past posts. If you want to refer to what you have read, you need to save it in one of your email files. Jewelry Ring, a wonderful group found at Yahoo, is web based and you can go back and read past posts and search for particular terms in past posts. My personal recommendation would be to join both groups as they are both vibrant communities of like minded people helping each other and sharing their prized finds.

This is barely scraping an inch from the mountain of information that is offered on line. When in doubt or when looking for a group whose interests are more narrowly focused, Google away but please do remember to focus your search terms or you will drown yourself in sites that are neither current nor correct. For every quality site out there there are 10 sites whose sole existance is to scam buyers and collectors with fakes and incorrect information; it takes time to learn the difference!

Betsy, signing off to go pick pears in the orchard