Midcentury Jewelry buys and sells gold, silver & costume jewelry in and around Cincinnati, OH. If you have jewelry to sell, please contact us for an appointment.
Jewelry styles we buy include but are not limited to Native American & Mexican, Art Deco & Art Nouveau, Antique, Victorian, Edwardian, Mid-Century, Machine Age, Modern, Retro, Hippie, Boho/Bohemian, and Vintage jewelry.
This 1920s era photograph by famed photographer Man Ray shows Nancy Cunard with African bangles up to her elbows. I would call this jewelry “bohemian” style jewelry.
I can see how boho jewelry could fit into today’s fashions. A spring outfit with a tunic top would be complemented by a chunky amber & bone necklace along with loads of bangles. I’m going to try it if the snow ever melts and when I can finally unbundle.
Went to a local antique store today, looking for jewelry. I ended up buying a ton of bohemian style ivory, amber, bone & horn pieces. Most will end up on my web site since eBay has now banned ivory from listings.
How can you identify ivory versus bone?
Ivory normally has a finer appearance than bone. It will have fewer marks and striations in the material. Sometimes with bone you can see with the naked eye some cracks, black lines, pits, etc. See the lines in the bone on the bottom bangle? Ivory would not have these lines.
If you look at ivory with a loupe, it may show a slight grain or cross-hatching in the material on back.
There is a “hot pin test” for ivory. True ivory is virtually impenetrable with heat and so will not be damaged by this test. Take a needle or a straightened-out safety pin and heat it until it is red-hot. In an unobtrusive spot on the piece, poke it. If the piece is true ivory, there will not be a hole and there will be a tiny mark. Smell the spot. It should smell like burnt protein (burnt hair). Bone is also resistant to heat, but not as much as ivory. It will not put out the same strong smell as ivory.
Bone is not free of grain and will have little “pock marks” in it where the marrow or blood was. You may have to use a loupe to see these pock marks.
Ivory can yellow over time.