Bergere: Vintage Jewelry Ad Pics

As I mentioned below in my article on Bergere jewelry, Bergere ran some beautiful full page ads in magazines such as Vogue and Harpers Bazaar. Some of them were so beautiful, I wanted to share.








My vintage multicolored Bergere necklace can be purchased at pavintage.etsy.com

Spring Green Celtic Knot Bracelet

I just posted a new item on etsy (bijoulerie.etsy.com). It is handcrafted from emerald green and clear Swarovski crystals, copper, Czech glass and vintage beads. The Celtic knot charm is handmade from 100% copper. A nice combo of faux pearls and green and clear beads are placed on copper plated memory wire in a 4 strand design. I think it's a great spring piece!

new sale item: bergere necklace

I found a really lovely estate sale necklace this weekend. Although I didn't know this when I snapped it up, it is made by Bergere (accent mark over the 2nd e) a company doing business from the 1940s to 70s and is well worth collecting.

My newly acquired Bergere necklace is made of hand knotted ceramic beads in a full palette of delicate summer colors. Each bead is unique with soft splashes of color in a spatter or ink flow type pattern. The the necklace has weight and good quality hand knotted cord. It is in excellent shape by anyone's standards. I love it, really want to keep it, but am going to put it on Etsy anyway - hopefully this week.

I found out a lot about the company unable to date the necklace exactly. My gut feeling is that this piece is 50s to 60s but I can't back that up. I'm going to do my best of course. When I buy jewelry - or anything vintage - I want to know everything I can about the item and this is as much a matter of interest as it is of resale importance.

About Bergere: Bergere was known to produce high quality costume jewelry from 1946 to 1979. Vogue and Hapers Bazaar ads from the period are lovely full page magazine placements featuring a wide variety of necklace and bracelet designs. It was sold at high quality department stores such as Nordstroms, Lord & Taylor and Marshall Fields. The company name was most likely inspired by the Bergere Folies a French opera house of its fame and popularity from the 1890s through the 1920s. Considered scandalous in its day it is still operational as of 2009.

Ceramic pieces in the Bergere line are relatively rare. I have not been able to find my piece anywhere online. It is an absolutely perfect summer piece with unique multicolored beads that will coordinate with any outfit and can be worn for both casual and dressy occasions. I will be offering it for sale in my etsy vintage store, pavintage.etsy.com, within the next few days.

the valentine necklace that wasn't

The new necklace was supposed to be done for Valentines. Instead it was finished last night. Still better late than never. And I like it. And there is always next year too, of course. Also I can still list it in my etsy shop as well as my website.

The necklace has deep garnet red Swarovski crystals, fresh water pearls, vintage chain and gold fill wire. It's a little unusual design wise because it alternates diamond shapes and oval. I think it hangs well, also.

I'm hoping to get the pictures taken this week. I feel that I'm not getting anywhere near enough done. But while there are a couple of different reasons for that, the main one is that I will take things apart and redo them if I have to. Sometimes more than once.

I had an art instructor once who told us about chasing a bad drawing. And he was right. Sometimes its better to just start over. And that's how I feel about jewelry. If it's not quite right in a design sense, change it. Because, for me at least, design is much more important than technique or materials.

So the valentine necklace that wasn't wasn't because I finished it and then took it apart. Also because I wanted a vintage clasp and that sometimes involves a search. Though now having found the clasp and put it on, I'm not sure if it's quite right. It's a nice piece overall however, and I'm happy with it even if I don't sell it till next year!

vintage boho travel trailers

Circa 1950s Nomad Travel Trailer

Check out velvetwood's blog on vintage boho travel trailers! There are a lot of great pics and inspirations. Make me wish I still had my little Nomad. Although I have to say honestly that it was pretty nice as it was. 1964 was a good year for travel trailers especially the Nomad which had the same shape as the fifties version but with bigger windows and warm wood paneling and a nice big booth in the front. Anyway check out the boho trailer blog and let velvetwood's know which trailer you'd pic!

making an etsy storefront banner pt. 2

This is the just for fun banner I talked about in my previous post. I think it creates a very different mood. I chose a very subtle patterned background in this banner. It required a little tweaking but was not hard to do.

I'm hoping my boyfriend will decide to use it for his etsy shop. He has mostly used ebay but I have persuaded him to try etsy. We buy and sell vintage items together so I think it will work well. I may put some vintage items in my own shop but am planning to mostly work with him on his.

To make this banner I chose another free vector graphic but placed the decorative scroll work on each end of the banner by cutting, pasting and rotating design elements to frame the font. In addition to placing the scroll work on the page I copied, pasted, and altered the background of the original graphic to fill in the banner background.

This banner was a little more work but also fun to do. I think it has a nice vintage look.