What to Do With Vintage Jewelry After a Loved One Passes Away

What to Do With Vintage Jewelry After a Loved One Passes Away

After someone passes away, families are often left with many personal belongings that need to be sorted. Some things are easy to identify and distribute, while others can be more difficult. Jewelry is one of those categories that can take time to understand.

You may open a dresser drawer and find several jewelry boxes. There may be brooches, necklaces, bracelets, clip-on earrings, rings, pins, beads, rhinestone pieces, or matching sets that have been stored away for decades. Some pieces may have belonged to a mother or grandmother. Others may have been collected over many years and no one in the family knows much about them.

If you are dealing with vintage jewelry after someone has passed away, you do not have to identify every piece yourself before deciding what to do with it.

At Jewelry Buyers of Vintage and Costume, we work with individuals and families who are considering selling vintage jewelry that has been left behind by a loved one. Our focus is on purchasing vintage jewelry and vintage costume jewelry that fits our buying interests.

Start by Keeping the Jewelry Together

One of the best things you can do when sorting through older jewelry is simply keep everything together in the beginning.

It can be tempting to immediately separate pieces based on appearance. Someone may put the jewelry that looks expensive into one box and place the colorful costume pieces into another. Broken items may be set aside or even thrown away.

That can sometimes separate pieces that originally belonged together.

A necklace may have matching earrings stored in another container. A brooch may be part of a coordinated set. An old jewelry box may contain paperwork, labels, original packaging, or other information connected to the jewelry.

If possible, leave the collection approximately the way you found it until you have had a chance to look through everything carefully.

Vintage Jewelry Can Look Very Different From Piece to Piece

One reason inherited jewelry can be confusing is that vintage jewelry covers a very wide range of styles.

A collection assembled over several decades might include delicate rhinestone jewelry, bold mid-century pieces, colorful enamel, imitation pearls, glass stones, sterling silver, gold-tone jewelry, charm bracelets, statement necklaces, dress clips, brooches, and signed designer pieces.

Some jewelry may immediately look special. Other pieces may look relatively simple.

Appearance alone does not always tell the full story.

Vintage jewelry collectors may be interested in a piece because of its maker, design, construction, materials, age, condition, color combination, or the particular period in which it was produced. There are also interesting unsigned pieces that may have collector appeal even though there is no recognizable designer name on the back.

This is why it can be helpful to have someone familiar with vintage jewelry look at a collection before deciding that certain pieces are unimportant.

Look for Names and Markings, But Do Not Worry If You Cannot Find Them

When looking through vintage jewelry, you may notice small names, symbols, numbers, or markings on the back of pieces or near clasps.

Vintage collections sometimes include jewelry by recognizable makers such as Trifari, Coro, Weiss, Lisner, Kramer, Boucher, Miriam Haskell, and other manufacturers and designers.

However, you should not assume that jewelry without a signature is automatically undesirable.

Many vintage pieces are unsigned. Others may have markings that are worn, difficult to read, or located somewhere that is easy to overlook.

If you find a marking, you can leave it exactly as it is. There is usually no need to spend hours researching every name before contacting a buyer.

Do Not Throw Away Broken Vintage Jewelry Too Quickly

Older jewelry is not always found in perfect condition.

A stone may be missing. A clasp may be damaged. A necklace may need restringing. A pin mechanism may no longer work properly. A pair of earrings may be missing one earring.

These issues can certainly affect buyer interest, but they do not necessarily mean the piece should immediately be discarded.

Some vintage jewelry remains interesting because of its design, maker, rarity, materials, or usefulness as part of a larger collection.

If you are already planning to have a collection reviewed for possible purchase, consider keeping damaged pieces with the rest until you know whether there is interest.

Avoid Aggressive Cleaning

Families sometimes feel that they should clean older jewelry before showing it to someone.

Usually, heavy cleaning is unnecessary.

Vintage jewelry can contain delicate finishes, foil-backed stones, glued components, enamel, imitation pearls, plated surfaces, old metalwork, or other materials that may not respond well to modern cleaners.

A strong chemical cleaner or aggressive polishing can sometimes do more harm than good.

Unless you know exactly what a piece is made from and how it should be cleaned, it is generally safer to leave it in its existing condition.

You Do Not Have to Sell Jewelry That Is Meaningful to Your Family

After losing someone, families may need time to decide which belongings have sentimental importance.

There is no reason to rush that decision.

If certain pieces remind you of the person who wore them, set those pieces aside before discussing the rest of the collection with a buyer.

You may want to keep a favorite brooch, wedding-related item, necklace, bracelet, or another piece that has a strong family connection. Other family members may also want to choose something to remember that person by.

Once those decisions have been made, you may discover that there is still a significant amount of vintage jewelry remaining.

That is often when families begin exploring the possibility of selling the pieces they do not plan to keep.

What If You Have Several Jewelry Boxes?

It is common for someone who enjoyed jewelry to accumulate pieces over many years.

What begins as one jewelry box can eventually become several boxes, trays, drawers, bags, display cases, or storage containers.

A larger collection may contain jewelry from different decades and different price ranges. There may be everyday fashion pieces mixed with better vintage jewelry, signed pieces, costume jewelry, sterling silver, and items that are difficult to identify.

You do not necessarily have to organize everything individually before contacting us.

For larger groups, seeing the collection as a whole can actually be useful.

You can learn more about the types of pieces we purchase on our Vintage Jewelry Buyer in Orange County page.

Photographs Are a Good First Step

If you are wondering whether your inherited vintage jewelry may be something we would be interested in purchasing, photographs are usually a good place to begin.

You do not have to professionally photograph every individual piece.

Start with clear pictures that show the overall group. If there are pieces that appear unusual, signed, or especially well made, additional close-up photographs can be helpful.

Photos of the front and back of important pieces can also show construction and markings.

This allows us to get a general idea of the type of jewelry you have before arranging an appointment.

Private Appointments for Vintage Jewelry in Orange County

Jewelry Buyers of Vintage and Costume works by appointment.

We do not operate as a walk-in buying location. This allows us to spend time reviewing the jewelry presented to us without the interruption of general foot traffic.

If the jewelry appears to fit what we purchase, an appointment can be arranged at our Orange County location. For certain larger collections, other appointment options may also be discussed.

Our business is focused on purchasing jewelry that fits our current buying interests. We are not an independent appraisal or valuation service.

If your only goal is to receive a formal value for insurance, probate, legal documentation, or another purpose without considering a sale, an independent appraisal professional would generally be more appropriate.

We Purchase Many Types of Vintage Jewelry

Collections left by a loved one can contain an enormous variety of jewelry.

Depending on the collection and our current buying interests, we may consider vintage brooches, pins, necklaces, bracelets, rings, clip-on earrings, rhinestone jewelry, signed costume jewelry, unsigned vintage pieces, matching sets, sterling silver jewelry, mid-century designs, and other older jewelry.

We are particularly interested in collections where someone accumulated jewelry over a long period of time.

Sometimes a family member remembers the person wearing the jewelry regularly. In other situations, the jewelry may have remained untouched in drawers or boxes for many years.

Either situation is completely normal.

You Do Not Need to Become a Jewelry Expert

Sorting through a loved one's belongings can already involve a long list of responsibilities.

You should not feel that you also need to become an expert in vintage jewelry.

You do not need to know exactly when every piece was made. You do not need to identify every designer. You do not need to know which stones are glass or which pieces may be collectible.

If you are seriously considering selling, simply gathering the jewelry together and taking several clear photographs is often enough to start the conversation.

Giving Vintage Jewelry Another Chapter

Jewelry is unusual because it often survives long after the clothing, furniture, and other belongings from the same period are gone.

A brooch worn decades ago can eventually find its way into the collection of someone who appreciates the style. A necklace stored in a jewelry box for years may eventually be worn again. A signed piece may become part of a collector's display.

For some families, knowing that the jewelry may continue to be appreciated makes the decision to sell a little easier.

There is also nothing wrong with keeping the pieces that matter to you and selling the rest. It does not have to be an all-or-nothing decision.

Considering Selling Vintage Jewelry Left by a Loved One?

If someone in your family has passed away and you are now sorting through vintage jewelry that was left behind, take your time.

Keep meaningful pieces. Keep related jewelry together. Avoid aggressive cleaning, and do not automatically throw away unsigned or damaged pieces.

When you are ready, Jewelry Buyers of Vintage and Costume may be interested in purchasing the vintage jewelry you no longer wish to keep.

We work with individuals and families in Orange County who have vintage jewelry, vintage costume jewelry, and larger inherited collections they are seriously considering selling.

You can visit our Vintage and Costume Jewelry Buyer website to learn more about what we purchase and how to begin.

A few photographs of the jewelry are often the simplest first step. From there, we can determine whether the collection appears to fit our buying interests and whether scheduling a private appointment makes sense.