FAUX ALEXANDRITE SHERMAN DEMI DAZZLES WITH ITS COLOR CHANGES

I get really excited when I acquire Sherman jewelry in any of the popular colours like red, fuschia or purple because they are the most sought after colors. But I get even more excited when I manage to snag any vintage designer jewelry that makes use of those gorgeous faux alexandrite or what many simply call, color-changing stones ... like the fabulous brooch & earring set shown here. I'm so in love with these crystals that I find myself hunting them down more than any other kind of stone because it just fascinates me how they change from pale grey to light green to pale lavender to mauve and sometimes to deep blue depending on the light source, with the result that when you own a set like this, it's almost like having 2 sets of Sherman!

And going by how quickly I manage to sell these faux alexandrite sets, looks like I'm not the only one who loves them. That stunning Weiss necklace on the left was sold within a few days. Its change from blue/green to lavender was just magical.

The same thing happened with 2 of my most prized Sherman necklaces. If you visit this LINK which shows Shermans I've sold, take a look at photos #5 and #8. Those were both faux alexandrite necklaces and if memory serves me correctly, the same buyer bought both! (You can read my earlier post on the baguette demi at this LINK )

So seeing how popular vintage jewelry using faux alexandrite stones is, I've been on the scrounge to find as much of it as I can and I now have several wonderful pieces to share with you in the next while. But right now, the superb color-changing brooch and earring set featured at the top of this post has just been listed in MY RUBY LANE SHOP. Slip over and take a look at all the photos. Watch how many transitions in color we've been able to capture just by altering the lighting. The changes don't happen in an instant but they're pretty quick. In a darker room, the set appears mauve, but the instant we turn on a warm incandescent light, it begins its change to blue, then green. Faux alexandrite stones: truly, truly fascinating and because it's hard to come by, very, very collectible. Think about it.

SHERMAN JEWELRY AT AUCTION ON EBAY

Okay. This week I've broken down and for the first time in many, many months I've decided to list some of my Sherman pieces on Ebay. Two reasons: Ebay offered Canadian sellers a 5 cent listing day yesterday and I need to move some stock to make room for new additions and to pay for my purchases. Yeah, I've been over-spending bigtime on vintage jewelry, and when my Visa bill arrived I knew it was time to do something drastic. Ebay! That's drastic as far as I'm concerned but it's the fastest way I know to top up the coffers when you need to.

So I'm keeping this blog post relatively short and showing you some photos and links to where you can go bid on these Shermans of mine on Ebay. I've started all the auctions at $9.99 and the watchers are mounting quickly. I suppose that's half the fun at ebay though I'd much rather sell for a lower dollar than give ebay part of my take in fees. But whatever... !

So that lovely clear swarovski crystal demi in the photo abover is in great condition and you can bid on it HERE (or click the photo). All the stones in the necklace are bright and sparkly. This is a lovely set for a bride, that final elegant touch of "something old" that remains valuable long after the day.

If you're looking for one of the more sought-after Sherman colors, why not have a crack at winning this root-beer and clear stone demi shown on the left? This is a very early Sherman and has even had a small repair, but that's only visible on the back and not at all from the front. If you click on the photo, you can see more pictures of this one, including the repair, and from there link through to the auction at Ebay. If you want to go directly to that auction now, CLICK HERE.

Moving right along, we come to a necklace that I really hate sending to auction on ebay. I've been baffled since I got this gorgeous necklace shown below as to why no-one has purchased it yet. After all, this is a book piece, actually pictured in Valerie Hammond's book, "All that Glitters" on page 95. I think it's one of the prettiest Sherman necklaces I've ever had the privilege to own. It was also one of my first Sherman purchases. Perhaps the problem is people think it's clear stones, but it's not. These stones have a lovely honey-lavender aurora borealis wash and depending on how the light catches them, one minute they appear purple, another lemony. The glitter in this necklace is fabulous. Again, it's lovely for a bride or for a young girl to wear to the

prom. It's elegant, graceful and in superb, nearly unworn condition. If you'd like to bid on this one, CLICK HERE. To see more photos, including how it looks on your neck, click the photo above.

The last Sherman necklace I have on auction on Ebay this week, again starting at only $9.99, is the delicious aurora borealis necklace on the left. This one is such a beauty i.e. great condition front and back. This one, like the book piece above, is very graceful thanks to those long slender navette stones alternating with shorter marquise cuts. As is so typical of aurora borealis, this one was hard to photograph, as sometimes the stones look silvery clear and in other light, they emit every color of the spectrum. This is a lovely Sherman necklace. You can see more views by clicking on the photo itself or you can go straight to bidding on it by CLICKING HERE.

LATE ADDITION TO THIS POST: I have just added a pair of earrings to the last necklace shown just above. I remembered their colors are a nice compliment to this necklace. So when you slip over to check out that auction, scroll down and look for the notice I've added. There's a photo of the FREE earrings there.

All of these auctions end on Sunday night, September 28, 2008 between 8 -9pm EST or 5 - 6pm PST. If you bid, I hope you win and look forward to being in touch with another Sherman addict like myself. Good luck!

First Place in 2008 Celebrating Beads, the jorney of... contest!

WooooooooHoooooooo!

Last night at the Bead Gala in the US Navy Memorial and Naval Heritage Center in Washington, DC my necklace Mid Summer Night's Dream was announced as the First Place winner of the 2008 Celebrating Beads, the jorney of... International Juried Jewelry Design Competition (seed bead category)! I'm happy! :)

SHERMAN'S LESSER KNOWN RIVAL: CONTINENTAL

If you've been following this blog, you will remember me telling you in my last post about the fastest Sherman sale I've ever had. It was for a stunning red crystal bead 3-piece parure. Well this time, I'd like to share with you a very similar set but it's not made by Sherman. This one comes to us courtesy of one of Sherman's main competitors, CONTINENTAL. This company manufactured its jewelry in Montreal from1947 - 1997 and produced some of the most gorgeous vintage jewelry of a quality to rival Sherman and many of the famous vintage designers. Yet, so little information seems to be available on Continental. I've scoured my many books and poked around on the net and really can't find much at all. It's strange given that there is quite a lot of Continental jewelry available on eBay and independent jewelry sites.

So that's one of the reasons I wanted to draw your attention to this fabulous set that I have just listed in my SHOP AT RUBY LANE. Yes, we all love and covet Sherman jewelry, but we can't always afford it. Well I'm going to tell you now, having owned both that killer red Sherman and now this royal blue Continental, that I thought I'd come across another Sherman when I found this at the Christies' Antique Show a couple of weeks back. That's how favourably it compares to a Sherman in its workmanship and quality. You can read the full details about this set by clicking on the photo above but I want to assure you that if you were to add this beauty to your vintage jewelry collection, you'd be making a smart move. Not only will it look gorgeous when you're out on the town, especially now with the festive season not all that far off, but I truly believe that in time, Continental jewelry will be placed on the vintage pedestal to stand alongside Sherman. It belongs there. Do a search for Continental jewelry and see what lovely pieces you'll find. You'll think they're Shermans, just as I did when I first saw this one.

And here's one really nice thing about this set: you can buy it for 1/3 of what I was charging for that red Sherman set. You see, Continental is still relatively affordable. Why not slip over to my RUBY LANE SHOP now and take a closer look at the other great photos of this royal blue set that's fit for a queen!

Fire Mountain Gems and Beads 2008 Beading Contest

FMG 2008 Beading Contest winners were announced a couple of weeks ago. Not gold, not silver, not bronze, I got just Judge's Favorite Award for two necklaces (Midnight Flowers and Shahrazad), and Golden Rose Necklace made FMG final.

Here are the links to these items:

Midnight Flowers Necklace
Shahrazad Necklace
Golden Rose Necklace

Art Activated at the Torpedo Factory

Visual art came alive at the Torpedo Factory during the Alexandria Festival of the Arts! On September, 13th, TFAC artists demonstrated pottery on the wheel, painting, enamel work, printmaking, and much more.


Guests got creative with the popular Champagne Cork Chairs Workshop and fiber art activities, while the Alexandria Archaeology Museum joined the fun with a history-inspired drawing activity. Storytelling and flute performances, art-inspired dance vignettes, and so on. It was a really exciting event!

Art Activated at the Torpedo Factory

THE FASTEST SHERMAN SALE I'VE EVER HAD!

Okay, I just have to tell you about this one as it relates directly to my last post HERE. I wrote that post within an hour or so of uploading that delicious red crystal bead parure to my SHOP AT RUBY LANE. Then I went to cook dinner, watched America's Got Talent (love that show!) and came back online to check my email. To my shock and joy, I'd already made a sale on that red parure! We're talking a space of about 4 hours here. Doesn't that prove what I've been saying all along: when it comes to collecting Sherman jewelry, red is one hot color! Drives me crazy in a way because I no sooner get one of the popular colors and it's gone. But that's what you want in sales, so who's complaining? Not me.

I tried to win another red Sherman necklace on ebay about an hour ago. I needed that one to complete a set of Siam red Sherman earrings that I have. Well I missed it. Even though I bid over $150 US for the necklace, I still missed it. I'm really getting the impression that prices for Sherman are climbing higher and higher these days and the closer we get to Christmas, the worse it is. Makes me think the time to buy Sherman when it's on Ebay is definitely not now! You're going to pay a lot more than you will say, in April!

Say, it's funny how the Sherman buying and selling goes round and round. I was checking ebay today to see what new listings there are for Sherman and guess what I found: a gorgeous purple set that I sold to a lady last year. Yep! She's listed it and there are already 2 bids on it. It's now sitting at $260US and she started the bidding at $9.50! Oh, you want to know where it is? Here's the LINK. Should you go for it? Yes ... because it's purple, it's a 3-piece set, it's in mint condition and it comes in a box. Gosh, I'd buy it myself but I know I'd end up paying more than I sold it to her since Shermans are getting such big dollars right now. By the way, her photos aren't all that good so if you want to take a better look at it, visit my SOLDS page at SHERMAN JEWELLERY SHOWCASE. You'll find it on there. It's photo #2. Cheers!

BUYING SHERMAN JEWELRY AT DEALER PRICES

Well this past week I really got an education about Sherman jewelry ... or rather about the prices I'm asking for Shermans on my site at SHERMAN JEWELLERY SHOWCASE and in my SHOP AT RUBY LANE. Seems I'm selling my Shermans to the public at dealer prices! Some business-woman, aren't I LOL!

Why do I say that? Well here's what happened. I had a lady who is a Sherman seller contact me about one of my pieces. I usually groan when they email me because invariably they want me to really drop the price on a piece for them so that they can take it and sell it at a profit. Well sure. After all, we sell to make some profit right?

So I replied with the usual explanation ie. I mark up my Shermans so little that I can't afford to give dealers special prices. Well lo and behold she came back and offered me only $10 less than I was asking on one piece. I was floored ... and I accepted. Then, it got even better. She asked about two other pieces. I gave her my bottom figures. On one of them, she said I'll pay you $10 more than you've asked! Huh? I thought I hadn't heard right. On the other, she offered again to pay only $10 less than I was asking ... that's $10 less than I'd sell it to you for! I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe a Sherman dealer would pay me fair value for my items.

We agreed to meet and make the exchange at the annual Christies Antique Show on Saturday. She was there selling her Shermans and other vintage jewelry. So were many other vendors selling Shermans. That's when the second part of my education came: there were vendors selling Shermans for 2-3 times what I ask ... and buyers were buying! I had to ask myself what on earth am I doing selling my Shermans for so little? Of course there is an explanation: I sell online. I don't do shows so I don't get to dazzle people with my gorgeous Shermans. There's nothing quite like seeing the actual item twinkling and glittering away under the sun or under lights. Even though I have superb photos, there's no match for seeing the real thing with your own eyes.

And of course, there's more explanations: my buyers come from around the world ... the online world. They come from varying economic backgrounds. They don't necessarily live in the ritzy areas of Toronto, Canada (e.g. Bayview, Rosedale) where buyers expect to and will pay huge prices for Shermans. Since I don't do shows in those areas, those buyers don't buy my items. But the dealers who sell to them would! HA! They will then take that piece, mark it up 2-3 times and walk away smiling.

So where does that leave me? Well it's got me thinking about my website at Sherman Jewellery Showcase for one thing. If my prices are that low, then maybe I should promote my site for what it is : a chance for you to purchase Sherman jewelry at dealer prices! Eureka. I think I'm onto something.

By the way, if you don't believe I'm selling my stuff too cheaply, please visit THIS SITE. When you're there, click on "SHOP" and then scroll down to "Sherman". Take a look at the prices this famous seller is asking and getting for her Shermans and compare those to my prices. What an eye-opener! I've just purchased her book. I need to learn more about all this stuff LOL!

Well, while I have you, I've got to tell you about that fabulous Sherman shown at the top of this post. It's my latest acquisition and I'm thrilled to have it. What a gorgeous Sherman red crystal bead demi-parure this is! It's in fantastic condition. All pieces are signed and just look at that color! The red aurora borealis Austrian crystals are superb. I'm offering it at $395. Now I wonder, if I were one of those other Sherman dealers I saw at the Antique show what I'd sell it for? Most of the items I saw at one stall started at $200 for a single brooch. One 3-piece set was $995!! What on earth am I doing selling my Shermans at dealer prices???!!!

SHERMAN JEWELLERY OR NOT, THIS DEMI IS HOT!

The battle rages on: is it a Sherman or isn't it? I listed this gorgeous set in my SHOP AT RUBY LANE yesterday. Now those of you who follow my blog know that I'm a bit of stickler for buying only Shermans that are signed "Sherman" for the simple reason that you don't have to prove whether it is or it isn't! Given that according to members of the Sherman family, no Shermans were ever unsigned (see Valerie Hammond's book, "All that Glitters") what do you do when you come across a set like this, fresh from an estate sale of a lady who was an avid Sherman collector, sold to you by a reputable estate seller's firm, and then you discover only the earrings are signed! So is it a Sherman or isn't it?

Well a blind man at midnight can see when you look at this set, that the earrings are a perfect
match to the necklace. The photos are one thing: screens can have different colors. But when you look at the actual items with the naked eye, there's just no way they didn't come together in the first place.

Just after I listed this yesterday, a fellow Sherman collector emailed me and asked where did all this talk of signed and unsigned Shermans originate. I told her what I knew. Now she's been collecting Shermans for years and here was her response to my explanation:

"This is fascinating, Viga. We all know Sherman quality is distinctive. The stones are superior, but I think the metalwork is even more telling. So few manufacturers equalled the quality of Sherman"s metalwork, including most of the really high-end companies. Boucher did, for example, but Boucher designs were so different from Sherman, it's hard to imagine the two being confused. So when you find an unsigned piece that is equal in quality and exactly matches a signed Sherman piece, it's hard to imagine they're not part of a true set, especially if it's one of the more unusual Sherman designs. I have one unsigned piece that has a really distinctive stone and an unusual setting for Sherman. But I have a signed set with the same unusual setting and another signed piece with the same unusual stone. And when I say unusual, I don't just mean for Sherman - other than these two pieces, I have never seen this stone in any other jewellery. Nobody will ever convince me the unsigned piece isn't Sherman. I can believe their intention was to sign all pieces, but mistakes happen, and it's harder for me to believe that they were 100% successful than it is to believe that some pieces made it through without the signature.

I don't know of any Canadian company that came even close in quality to Sherman - certainly not Jay Flex/Jay Kel, Triad, or Continental. Not even their very best equals Sherman. And the Americans STILL don't know Sherman, so it's hard to believe an American company was producing unsigned look-alikes. So who was creating these pieces that are identical in design and equal in quality, if it wasn't Sherman itself?"

Well what do you think of my associate's comments? I found myself agreeing with her. I can no longer hold my rigid stance on this topic. What I have for sale above is a true Sherman, even if only the earrings are signed. I've heard and read that some later Shermans had one piece in a set signed while a hang tag was attached to the other piece. That makes sense. And of course, over the years, if the owner was wearing that Sherman, the hang tag would have been removed and lost ages ago.

Do you own a Sherman set where only one piece is signed? Why not leave a comment for us here and tell us how you came across your Sherman and how you feel about this very controversial subject. And if you're not too busy, do stop by my site at SHERMAN JEWELLERY SHOWCASE and take a look at some wonderful new additions to my collection. More coming soon too!