An Unexpected Haul

Friday dawned sunny and lovely, but drat I was heading out to a dental appointment. It was just for a routine cleaning, but I still went with a certain amount of dread. I mean no one likes having anyone mucking about their mouth with sharp instruments. So afterwards, as a treat, I decided to head to a couple of my favorite boutique thrift stores.

Now it just happened that one of the stores was having a special event where they had set out scads of jewelry and extra fine stuff. The store was jam packed with goodies and shoppers. It was bedlam! While I was having a blast looking (or trying to look), I didn’t expect to buy much as prices tended to be on the high side for those of us who resell. For example, there was a small monogrammed antique sterling silver bowl, but at $120 there was no money left in it and a couple of silverplate creamers were $18. Still, in the end, I spent $180 (plus tax) and walked away a happy camper.

Here’s what I bought…

First thing I picked up were two vintage carved peach pits of Asian men. Perhaps monks. One has his hands together in prayer. Too quirky good to pass up.

And I got this small sterling silver pill box for myself. It’s marked 925, but has no maker’s mark and is not super fine craftsmanship, but is a sweet thing and stays securely shut, so I intend on using it when I travel.

I thought this Southwestern-style shell and turquoise nugget necklace was fabulous. The turquoise had such beautiful matrices. (Back at home I tested a small area of turquoise with nail polish remover to see if it had been dyed and it hadn’t. Yeah!)

Couldn’t resist this vintage ’40s/’50s double-strand coral twig necklace with a fancy sterling silver gold-plated box clasp. I can see this worn with a blue and white “island” dress or how about with a white blouse and skinny blue jeans.

And this plastic red flower bracelet intrigued me. The flower panels are handmade as each is slightly different in shape, carving and painting and they look vintage. They did not test positive for bakelite (drat!) so they’re possibly celluloid. Either way I love the way it looks. Reminds me something that might be worn in the ’40s.

But my best find was this cross and bead necklace. The seven crosses are marked sterling and signed VB for Vernon or Virgil Begay, Navajo silversmiths. It is a striking statement piece and even though I paid up for it, I think it has a lot more meat on the bone. I’m darn tempted to keep it and wear it for a while!

At this point I’m not sure what my prices will be for any of these, more research is needed, but I’m happy with everything I bought and bonus, it’s all small and easy to ship. Which is becoming more of an issue for me. Yesterday I had two orders to package that were big items (one breakable) and I used copious amounts of packing materials and spent sooooo much time. And in reality, neither order was that profitable. Must stop that nonsense. (A fun fact: one of the items is heading to a film studio near Philadelphia.)

I’ll close for now wishing you happy hunting,

Karen