PUTTING A PRICE ON SHERMAN JEWELRY ... IF INDEED IT'S A SHERMAN!

A lady wrote to me recently regarding the glorious set of vintage jewelry shown in the photo above. She was given this set by her mom and believed this was Sherman. The 3 pieces are a perfect match in color and in the cut of the stones used, but unfortunately, only the brooch (on which the pin is broken) bears the distinctive Sherman signature. Neither those fabulous dangling earrings nor the divine 7 inch bracelet are signed "Sherman".

What this lovely lady wanted to know was whether I could put an approximate value on this set. As someone who loves this kind of jewelry, I'd say the set is priceless as an example of aurora borealis vintage stylings. But as a Sherman, this was one tough piece to evaluate. Below is my answer to her and I welcome any comments from other Sherman lovers and experts out there:

"Thanks for your email and for your trust in calling on me to answer your questions. Unfortunately, I find them very hard to answer for one simple reason: 2 of the pieces aren't signed, and the one that is is "broken".

While someone might be able to replace the broken pin, the minute anyone repairs a signed vintage piece, it loses value as the seller should state the piece has been repaired. Of course, you can sell it "as is", and some will buy it to do just that i.e. repair it or use the stones for repairing
other Shermans.

The issue on "unsigned" Shermans is a really touchy one. Personally, I just about never buy a piece, whether it's Sherman or some other designer, if it's not signed as there's no way to prove to a hesitant buyer that the piece is an authentic designer piece.

This issue is so "sticky" and fortified in the book published by Valerie Hammond where she states she interviewed the Sherman family and they swore no unsigned pieces were ever released by Sherman. So how then does one explain the obvious match in your pieces? Valerie herself has located my blog on this subject and left a comment repeating what is in her book. You can read that blog and Valerie's comment HERE.

I must confess, that for the sake of safety and not having arguments with customers, I tend to stick with Valerie on this subject and avoid "unsigned" Shermans, even though ebay sellers will say "everyone knows not all Sherman pieces were signed" and that "some came with hang tags that have been taken off over the years". That may well be true but the Sherman family vehemently denies that possibility.

So what are the pieces you have i.e. Sherman or not? I don't know. They sure look like a matched set. But there were other designers at the time who copied Sherman's designs; there was also talk that Sherman's moulds were stolen and hence a pile of unsigned pieces, Sherman look-a-likes, have surfaced.

So now to answer your question: I can't. If you wanted to sell these to me, I could only offer you a price on the bracelet and earrings based on their being "unsigned beauties" and not "unsigned Shermans", meaning I couldn't offer much because I couldn't sell them for much.

As for the brooch, because of the broken pin, the value is down too. As an unbroken Sherman brooch, you could get $45 - $60 for the brooch. As it is, maybe someone would pay $20 - $30. Sets are worth more than individual pieces. Those earrings are gorgeous. If they were signed, you'd probably get up to $30 - $40 for them. Unsigned, $10 - $15. The bracelet is stunning. Signed, it could get $75 -$150. Unsigned, you might not get more than $30.

Another thing: your jewelry is mainly aurora borealis. It's pretty, and many pieces made by Sherman featured aurora borealis. But AB is not as valuable as Shermans made with swarovski crystals ie. no aurora coating."

I hated saying all this to this lady but I was as honest as I could be. I think her set is magnificent. She understood what I was saying and has since decided to keep it in the family for a younger member who might one day appreciate just how fabulous even unsigned vintage jewelry can be.

The DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SIGNED & UNSIGNED SHERMANS IS DOLLAR VALUE!

Today some interesting auctions finished on eBay. I had put watches on them, as I always do, because it's generally on eBay that folks pay the least for Sherman jewelry and also take the biggest risk that what they have won is an authentic Sherman. Like I've said elsewhere in this blog, if a Sherman isn't signed, how can you be sure it's a Sherman?

Well obviously from today's auctions, that uncertainty impacts very much on the price bidders will pay. Take the gorgeous wide aurora borealis bracelet shown above. It's absolutely awesome and this style is in demand for collectors. Now most Sherman bracelets on ebay go for in excess of $100 and some, big ones like this one, depending on colors, will even go for $1000 or more. Well imagine my shock when I checked back later to see what this sold for and found it had gone for only $88!! Gosh, had I known it'd do that, I would have bid on it myself! I re-read the ad, and there it was: the explanation for that low dollar: this bracelet is unsigned. Even though the seller included a photo of a brooch she claimed came from the same set but which she was selling separately, bidders put on the brakes and stopped at $88. Yet, recently, the very pretty but clear rhinestone Sherman bracelet sbown on the left sold for over $150! (If that bracelet had colored stones and not clear, it might have gone for another $100 on top of that.) Why did this one go for nearly twice as much? It's a signed Sherman of course.


Now here's another example from recent eBay auctions: the very pretty fuschia "set" below immediately caught my eye. I had to watch this one, knowing how much Sherman collectors will pay for fuschia, especially when it's a set.
Well again, I was stunned to see this set sold for a mere $125. That's really cheap for a Sherman set, even one that's not fuschia. Something had to be wrong ... and it was. While the earrings shown in the set were signed Sherman, the necklace was not! Several photos were provided, but a statement provided in the description indicated it was the seller's opinion only that the earrings and necklace were a set. There was no other proof. Now, it has been stated that not all Shermans were signed i.e. you might get signed earrings and an unsigned necklace that originally came only with a paper tag. But if the tag is gone, how do YOU know? The only thing you can go by, if you're buying online, or once you receive the item, is to closely compare the construction, the stones, the layout and if you then conclude they are identical and belong together, then yes, you most likely have a full Sherman set.

But to the point here: whether you invest in Sherman as a collector or as a buyer who wants to sell down the way, it's obvious buyers hesitate to bid on or buy unsigned pieces. If they do buy, they won't pay top dollar. They'll buy the piece as an "unsigned beauty" because that's what it is ... lovely but not as valuable. For my money as both a buyer and seller, I look for only signed pieces. A set like my fuschia set below, with necklace, earrings and brooch is "safe". All the pieces are signed Sherman.

And one more thing: if you're shopping on Ebay for your Shermans or any designer vintage jewelry, for heaven's sake READ THOSE ADS CAREFULLY. Even I missed the fact that those pieces mentioned above weren't signed pieces! But then I wasn't buying. And beware the person
who uses SHERMAN in the title to catch your eye. The seller of the necklace shown on the right used SHERMAN in the title. The colors in this piece are awesome and the style is very much like a Sherman. Maybe it's a Sherman and maybe it isn't. Bottom line is it's another "unsigned beauty" but the seller led you to believe it was a Sherman right in the headline! Fortunately, most bidders did read the ad and this very pretty necklace went for what is was worth: $39. But if an unwary bidder had missed that, they might have spent another $100 on this one!