An Interview on Turn of the Century

In cheapest wow gold interview, “Antiques Roadshow” jewelry appraiser Joyce Jonas offers a survey of turn-of-the-century jewelry styles. Looking at the defining aspects of Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, and Edwardian jewelry, Jonas explains the influence of Queen Alexandra and other prominent figures, as well as the impact of such materials as diamonds and platinum. Jonas can be contacted via her website,

I bought wow leveling my first piece of jewelry—a gold ring with a big lapis stone propped on prongs—when I was about 12 with money my grandfather gave me. Then, as a teenager, I worked in my aunt’s jewelry store in New Jersey during the Christmas season. I actually wanted to be a tiffany jewelry professional opera singer, but I realized I wasn’t going to become Renata Tebaldi. So I went back to school for three years, to the New York School of Interior Design. It was great fun, but I didn’t want to be a decorator.

At that point, a friend and I decided to share our tiffany love of jewelry by going into the personalized jewelry business. The idea was to buy jewelry for busy executives who didn’t have time to shop for their wives or girlfriends. We’d write up a profile, go to their offices, and scout jewelry shows. I got to meet a lot of contemporary jewelers and was really getting to know the market. But then my friend decided to go back to teaching. She had to make a living.

I started working part-time with a Bathroom Accessories jewelry designer and saw how contemporary jewelry was made. I met a lot of famous people there because she had a big Hollywood clientele. I worked there for about a year and a half. Then she went bankrupt so I worked for David Yurman for about six months. That was in 1979.

Saw blade , I literally talked my way into a job cataloging at Phillips Auction Company. I’d never cataloged a piece of jewelry in my life. I think I dropped about seven pounds the first month. After about three months, they made me the antique jewelry specialist. I’d learned that it was cheap dofus easy to catalog regular jewelry because all the descriptions were basically the same. But there was a lot to learn with antique jewelry.

A year and half later—this was in the early ’80s—I was made the head of the department. I was the first woman to head an international jewelry department on the level of Christie’s, Sotheby’s, or Phillips. At the same time, I started teaching my first jewelry class.

I began doing appraisals and was teaching at New York University twice a week. I was also very active in the American Society of Jewelry Historians. I became president of the society for seven years, and was then elected president emeritus. I was one of the founders.

Replica Watches . along the way, a friend of mine brought “Antiques Roadshow” over from England. I’ve been on the show for 14 years now and have lectured all over the country, in just about every museum. Somebody saw me on “Antiques Roadshow,” and I got a QVC program on estate jewelry reproductions. Now I’m doing legal work, expert-witness testimony, and different kinds of cases. I was even involved with a murder case involving jewelry. hl