About French Jewelry
Vintage French jewelry is renowned for its exceptional craftsmanship and artistic excellence. French jewelers have a long history of mastering intricate techniques, such as filigree, enameling, and stone setting, resulting in pieces of top-notch quality and beauty.
Timeless jewelry designs created in France transcend fashion trends. The use of classic motifs and harmonious proportions ensures that vintage French jewelry remains relevant across generations. What made France a powerhouse in the world of jewelry? It all comes down to the apprenticeship system. Back in the 1950s, French teens as young as 14 could start learning the trade. This early start gave French jewelers a unique edge, allowing them to amass a wealth of experience from a young age. As a result, even the non-designer pieces were crafted by highly skilled artisans.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, French jewelry was heavily influenced by the Art Nouveau movement. Between 1920s and 1930s, the Art Deco movement took over, influencing French jewelry with its geometric shapes, bold colors, and symmetrical designs.
France is home to several prestigious jewelry houses that have made significant contributions to the world of vintage jewelry. Notable names include Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Boucheron, each with its unique style and heritage.
Coco Chanel made a significant impact on the world of jewelry with her costume jewelry designs. Her use of faux pearls, glass, and other non-traditional materials revolutionized fashion jewelry.
Whether you’re interested in the elegance of Art Deco or the organic forms of Art Nouveau, there's a wide range of vintage French jewelry styles to explore and appreciate.
Today, the jewelry industry has moved away from this hands-on tradition, with mass-market production taking over. The focus is on efficiency, and jewelry designs are often engineered to minimize the need for manual labor. That's why today vintage French jewelry is in such high demand. Here, at Nadine Krakov Collection, we offer the most desirable vintage jewelry online made by French experts.
About Estate Jewelry
Purchasing estate jewelry is an excellent way to buy high-end quality pieces at a fair price. Those who appreciate classic or one-of-a-kind pieces prefer purchasing estate jewelry for a wide range of styles and historical influences.
Buying jewelry online can be challenging. The quality of the making has not got better over the time while the design is getting more and more generic. Add ever rising prices and you could end up with not finding anything suitable. To purchase a high-quality jewelry piece for an obtainable price consider buying estate items.
Quality vs Quantity
Estate pieces mostly belong to the era when jewels were handmade and not mass produced. There were simply less jewelry makers at that time and they cared about their reputation. Opposed to the current fast fashion approach, life pace was in general slower. That allowed makers to take more time to craft a truly quality piece.
Fair price vs Overpriced
Designer pieces aka signed pieces can cost multiple times more than their unsigned equivalents. We pay not only for an item itself but also for the brand advertising campaigns and all the buzz the name is creating. Prices for estate jewelry form differently and mostly depend on the cost paid by a seller. A pre-owned Bulgari ring and a brand-new Bulgari piece have a significant price difference. Ask your local jewelry store about the retail price of the desired piece and you’d be pleasantly surprised.
True value vs Seasonal rush
Pre-owned jewelry retains its value as over time it gets unique and sought-after. Think purchasing a new car that loses its value right after you left your dealer versus buying a vintage vehicle.
At the Nadine Krakov Collection we are in love with all things beautiful. Each of our estate jewelry pieces is in excellent condition. We preserve the history and the greatest styles of the past so our clients can enjoy it at the fullest.
