Rings and Things

Well, earrings at any rate.  Revelling in the luxury of a day off (bloated civil servant that I am, I get the day after New Year’s as a holiday) and poring over the combined swag of a recent eBay acquisition and a couple of trips to the neighborhood thrift stores. 

The thrift store visits rarely cost me more than three dollars; the eBay purchase was rather more than that but still cost less than a couple of pizzas (I know the spousal unit reads this and I’m waiting for the roar of thrifty Scots anguish, especially since I went to the dentist and Flora had to be re-aligned this month).

Not shown in the large photo -- the cat must be lying on them -- are two flower brooches made of enamel over some kind of bend-y metal.  I know old books and old fabric, and I even know a little about old furniture, but nothing about vintage jewelry.  Fifties?  There’s no markings on them.  Each is a little smaller than my palm.

The bolo is from the eBay loot and if that thumbnail-sized chunk of turquoise is real it’s probably worth more than what I paid for everything else.  It’s marked on the back, ?PACA? over MEXICO.  There are two more Mexican pins, one a cat-like creature biting himself on the butt, and one inlaid with abalone that has a couple of trademarks and MEXICO over CASADOS.  I guess I’ll have to do some research.  I think all three pins are real silver, they have that heft.  There is a pair of Mexican-looking silver and coral earrings in the batch, as well, and a delicate little necklet of silver tubes and turquoise (colored glass?) beads that’s very pretty.

Only one of the necklaces is plastic – everything else is the real deal, although all those “pearls” are glass beads.  Some of this will be taken apart and restrung into something that actually fits me, as the owner/wearer of several pieces was obviously someone with a delicate and swan-like neck.

The world’s two flashiest brooches are going to be put aside until someone wants me to sew them a Wise Man costume.  Or I meet a particularly needy belly-dancer.

(Apologies for the poor photo quality but the camera died and I had to use my county Blackberry).