Product Description

The much anticipated sequel to Collecting Costume Jewelry 101 is finally here! Collecting Costume Jewelry 202 will take students through another phase of jewelry collecting - the basics of dating jewelry, 1935 - 1980. This beautiful and informative volume simplifies the complex process of dating vintage costume jewelry into six easy-to-understand methods. Over 650 colorful photographs of vintage jewelry illustrate these methods. Beginning and experienced collectors will appreciate the large reference section featuring dozens of well-researched charts cataloging over 4000 design patent numbers and over 550 carefully chosen original patent illustrations. More than 160 intriguing and attractive vintage advertisements are scattered throughout the text. To round out this valuable reference, several useful appendices archive pertinent data needed to date costume jewelry designs in a clear, easy-to-reference format.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #371389 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Customer Reviews

FABULOUS BOOK!
This book is fantastic! I am an experienced collector and this book is full of information on learning how to date vintage costume jewelry. I was totally impressed by the large sections on Coro & Trifari since I have many pieces from these designers from the 1930's - 1950's, and it was wonderful to be able to see actual patents, ads, and dating techniques. Along with the many other designers that she covered was just adding icing on the cake. I thought Ms. Carroll out did herself with her first book "Collecting Costume Jewelry 101" but this one continues to show her love, dedication and hard work on providing collectors with beautiful photos and extremely valuable information. I have already purchased many copies as Christmas gifts and hope she will continue to share her wealth of knowledge with us on this subject.

$25.00 Well Spent!

Brief Description of Book
This book is as thick as the September issue of Vogue magazine with almost 500 pages of information. The author guides the reader through the basics of dating a piece of jewelry. She uses a six-step process to sleuth out the approximate date of production. There are loads of photos and advertisements to help with dating. Costume Jewelry 202 may also be a "wish book" to keep you looking out for pieces that you just must have!


Quantity of Illustrations:
There are more than 1300 total illustrations in Collecting Costume Jewelry 202. There are 650 new color photographs, 160 original advertisements in color and black and white, 550 patent illustrations and 4000 patent design numbers.
Comments: A very substantial reference book


Quality of Illustrations:

B/w and color illustrations:
Original vintage advertisements are reproduced in black and white or color depending on the advertisement. The author has reproduced the text of the advertisements so that you can actually read the ad copy that accompanies the pictures. The patent sketches are black and white line drawings.

Color Photos:
The new photos are very good I don't think I saw a fuzzy image in this book!
Close ups of the marks? None, There is an appendix that describes the marks but no photos or drawings of maker's marks
Comments: The photos are good and show the pieces clearly. There is only one photo of a piece therefore there are no details or views of the back construction. The photos are not arty or distracting the focus is on the piece of jewelry. The backgrounds are a consistent white color. There could have been darker backgrounds to make some of the colors "pop".


Quantity of Information
Range of Information offered:
The author's "Six Methods for Dating Costume Jewelry" in the beginning of the book is well written and easy to follow. It will help a reader narrow down the date a piece was produced.
The methods are:
* Maker's mark
* Patent
* Vintage advertisements
* Style or design
* Reference materials books and internet
* And finally dating jewelry by provenance


Is the information thorough?
The majority of the book is devoted to Coro and Trifari 172 pages out of almost 500. So, it would seem as if the Coro and Trifari part are thorough. There are 125 additional makers included. There sections are from a few paragraphs to a few pages. I believe all of the makers in this book are American.



Quality of Information:
Accuracy (Mistakes?) The information seems to be correct, but I am not so much of an expert that I could spot anything more than the most glaring mistake. I do not feel qualified to give an opinion on this section.


Values Listed (Prices) Yes
Are they helpful or realistic?
The prices are based on what one might hope to get in an e-bay auction.
Comments: Based on the prices sometimes I want to be buying and other times I want to be on the selling end of the transaction.


User Friendly:
Is the book easy to read and follow? yes
Is there a table of contents and index? yes
Is information easy to find? yes
Comments: Nothing like a good index to make this reader/reviewer happy. It costs the publisher money to index the materials but in a 500-page book this feature is essential.


Is this book a must have? Yes

Overall comments
Collecting Costume Jewelry 202 is a useful and interesting book. I have had it a week and I have opened it up and used it every day for something. $25.00 well spent.


This review appears in the on-line collecting site Jewelry ring a Yahoo Group!

Collecting Costume Jewelry 202
I have been collecting Costume Jewelry for a very long time. I only wish I had a "primer" like this when I started out! I bought the first book "C.C.J.:101" for my daugther last year and was very impressed. This one WOWED me. Even if you have been collecting as long as I have you will find a wealth of information. Some will say it has a big focus on Coro, but, there's alot out there and first timers will find that more often then Haskell. Bravo! This a keeper.