I've always loved to learn.  My sister made up lots of names for me growing up because of it.  One of the things I really like about going to estate sales is that I find so many wonderful old items that seem to have their own stories.  Many times, relatives share bits of history and I come away feeling just a little bit wiser for the time I spent talking to a surviving relative.


One of my estate sale purchases that cost me more than I was really comfortable spending was a small lot of old jewelry.  The former owner was a woman who had been married back in the 1930s.  Her grand daughter was telling me about the lot and mentioned that there was a lot of art deco jewelry.  In particular, she mentioned that there was an art deco engagement ring in the lot.  At the time, I had no idea what that meant.  It turned out that through a series of romantic twists and turns, the woman had received the ring, but never married the man who gave it to her.  The ring was still there, in a vintage jewelry box, all those years later.  I did buy the lot, but I haven't listed the ring yet.  It's beautiful and I've learned about the art deco period in preparation for selling it, but something keeps holding me back.

Art deco designs are very strongly based on geometric shapes and forms.  The style was very popular between the difficult periods brought on by World Wars One and Two and the designs had a luxurious feel to them.  During the time, the art deco style could be found throughout society.  It was seen in jewelry such as watches, earrings, engagement rings and the like, but also, much more famously,  in architecture, furnishings, clothing styles and just about anything else you can think of that is ever related to fashion or design.  For examples, check out buildings, cars, clothes, etc. from the mid 1920s through the beginning of World War II.  The Empire State Building is often cited as a great example of Art Deco styling.

photo credit: adotjdotsmith
Art Deco started regaining its popularity again back in the 1980s, and today it is still quite popular.  Art deco jewelry especially has been in great demand.  Of course, to find true, vintage jewelry of the original time period, you have to go where the market is.  You can check with jewelers or frequent estate sales and auctions hoping to find it, but for the best, consistent selection, eBay is probably your best bet for finding any second hand engagement rings.


Here is a short video I found giving a nice description of Art Deco...

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