This is all Kathi Jo’s fault. Kathi Jo, you may recall, is a dealer who knows more about Mexican silver jewelry than practically anyone, and I have bought many a piece from her—how many I’m not prepared to say. She knows every version of every hallmark; she can tell you whether a piece is authentic… Continue reading Mickey Bricks
Category: Mexican silver (30s through 60s)
From Héctor, With Love
These are stressful times, and—I won’t lie to you—I an once again seeking consolation in jewelry. Not just any jewelry, but jewelry with substance: hefty, hand-wrought pieces from the distant past. Pieces that don’t seem old because they’re so beautifully designed and so well made. The pleasure I get from them is palpable. I’m holding… Continue reading From Héctor, With Love
But Will I Wear It?
For someone who owns a lot of jewelry, I wear pathetically little of it. I stalk it, I buy it, I swoon over it, I take it on a little honeymoon, and then I go on to the next infatuation. If I behaved the same way with men, I would be one tired and jaded… Continue reading But Will I Wear It?
Girls with Snakes
I do like real ones, provided they’re not venomous. Snakes, I’ve always thought, have nice smiles. And they’re not the least bit slimy—they’re sleek and dry, and go about their business quietly. Snake jewelry, however, is something I never aspired to own until I started collecting old Mexican silver and saw the playful, powerful snake designs… Continue reading Girls with Snakes
The Wearing of the Purple
I grew up thinking of amethysts as semiprecious stones—which, to my mind, meant starter stones, the kind you bought before you could afford really precious ones. Amethysts, after all, were mere quartz. True—but there are many respectable gems in the quartz family, including citrine, chalcedony and chrysoprase. Amethysts are the top of the line, one of the few… Continue reading The Wearing of the Purple
Matilde, Matilde, She Take Me Money
If the title of this post puts you in mind of Harry Belafonte, you may be old enough to have learned one of the tougher truths of jewelry buying: By the time you can afford an expensive necklace, you may no longer have the neck for it. This has happened to me, but it hasn’t stopped me. Dreamer… Continue reading Matilde, Matilde, She Take Me Money
Hammered
This is a photo of a bracelet, one with more presence, and more mojo, than any piece of jewelry I’ve ever seen, let alone owned. It arrived just after Christmas 2015, having taken its sweet time getting to me. I bought it from my dealer friend Kathi Jo (see my last post), who’d sold it to another client years… Continue reading Hammered
Finally Getting It
My late friend Juliette used to say, “I don’t understand why you wear gold, when you could be wearing silver—the most beautiful, sensuous metal there is.” I disagreed. For me, silver, especially the Scandinavian Modern stuff she adored, was several degrees too cool. Whereas gold, yellow gold, was warm and rich—more flattering, I thought, to my… Continue reading Finally Getting It
Yet More Jewelry 