It is common for people to be lining up outside our estate sales in the Austin area, hours before the start of the sale, in order to be first in line to have the best opportunity to buy.  

Around 1999 the interest in vintage furniture created a whole new group of buyers. 

Then about 2010 a new group has been formed and they are after the antique and vintage jewelry!  

Often we will get a buyer who wants to buy the entire lot in hopes of a bulk discount, and others are looking for something special for themselves.  Some are also buying for resale and others are collecting and holding for increased value as time goes by.  Jewelers are common at our estate sales and they are looking for everything from scrap Gold, to precious stones, semi precious stones, Rolex watches, Coin jewelry, and more.  

Some of our favorite pieces that we have seen over the years include a 20 carat Tanzanite ring with round and baguette diamonds all the way around the stone.  It looked like it had never been worn as it was so beautifully cared for. It also came with the GIA report and original receipt too!

Another memorable piece was a 6 carat Emerald with diamond baguettes and rounds as well as pave diamonds down the sides. So stunning, it looked like it came right out of the Neiman Marcus catalog.

On another occasion, we had on consignment a huge 7 carat Yellow diamond cocktail ring that looked like a $100,00.00 piece.  The seller was asking just $7000.00 as their calculations for jewelry was always just $1000.00 a carat!  It was a win-win for both buyer and seller.   

Another brand name we cannot get enough of is vintage Chanel jewelry or clothing. We have regular clients that will crawl through glass to have the chance at these items.  If you are thinking of selling any Chanel items we have immediate buyers.  If you are a buyer of Chanel contact us and we will notify you when we have Chanel items coming available.  The most common is Chanel earrings, Chanel brooches, Chanel scarves, Chanel bags, and Chanel wallets, but we have seen everything. 

One thing that we often hear from buyers why they love vintage jewelry so much is the way large diamonds were cut in the past.  Years ago diamonds were cut wider and less shallow so the diamonds, once set, look much larger.  A one carat diamond would appear to be 1.5 or 1.75 carats instead.  A jeweler that often attends our estate sales in Austin, tells us this is called the “chiseler cut”,  although he might have been joking!!