Featured Egyptian revival again... nice old 800 silver necklace

Yep! Everyone loves a good scarab.

 

As long as they're not alive.

 

Okay well not the ones from The Mummy... I did specify "good" and not flesh eating...

I think the regular live kind are awfully cute and so pretty when iridescent!

 

Greetings Britain-Re the UK's got all those 'clueless sellers ?
I'd assume much of our British Joolies 'luck' has to do do w/ a lifetime of study and relentless hunting.
That said-the bloated US prices have me a tad down-the gold case in my local 'charity' thrift has nothing under $250.
Now I just hunt a few hours a week & only locally.When I was in my 30's,it was 5-6 days a week in a 100 mile radius,no more.
PS-O'Bear,I'd say it wasn't cheap re 1970 prices,but for the rest of us....

 

Then why do kyra and I rarely run into such clueless sellers here on the European Continent? Surely 50 years of collecting and studying has resulted in some knowledge.
And why do Dutch antiques sellers buy their stock mostly from the UK, rather than from the Netherlands? (pre-Brexit, it could be different now)

 

AJ-These UK prices are like some kind of 'time warp'. Dutch sellers buy from the UK ? -Maybe Boris Johnson & Brexit lowered everybody's IQ by 20 pts. I know one thing abt Britain-the 'telly' has naked dating shows.
These lower prices are a real mystery-takes like a blink to shoot thru the Chunnel.
Here's how these 3 legendary European Countries stack up-
UK-Naked Game Shows/Antique Prices !
Belgium-Great Beer ! (half the price)
Dutch-Religious Freedom,Dope,Art !

 

Ah, Catalunya. So many astonishing designers and makers. Those Masriera pieces are stupendous. I see what you mean about being reminiscent, @Any Jewelry . And agreed on the waves of Revival: I do love David Roberts' works for example.

First off, I'm a cheapskate, so twenty five quid is me being extravagant. But how could I resist it. (Yes, I KNOW I spent a vast amount on the Georgian rose gold!)

I think the scarab has been out of its frame at some point, there's remnants of old glue for sure. I ain't gonna fiddle with it. There's also an internal flaw in the stone, but it only shows under my New Super Duper LED loupe. I've got other scarabs with "hieroglyphs" on, they're generally non Egyptian copies. Bit like how English porcelain companies did "Chinese" character marks which were utter gibberish.

I'd not call it plique a jour: the enamel is too thick to be translucent, even though the back is open. I love the fact that they took the trouble to enamel the chain even. Screams quality. I'm still undecided on age, but thinking it might predate Carter.

Anyhow, this chazza. Often, it tries to get silly prices for junque. There's an old girl who used to frequent local auctions and I think she sometimes "advises" them. Badly. But yesterday, oh, the haul. This thing, a nice butterfly wing brooch in silver, and one of those French white metal town plaque bracelets which I'm partial to. And a piece of very rare Whitefriars.

So I actually spent about fifty quid. It's a hospice shop, so a very good cause. And by some weird coincidence, someone I knew well had died in said hospice the say before. Fanciful, but maybe he was watching out, bless him.

 

25 pounds is pushing my comfort limits too,but I did spend USD125 on a piece of unsigned Ciner costume so you never can tell. On the other hand, an enameled silver chain is always worth a punt, and you have to love it when the "experts" seriously miss one. I figure their misses fuel our collecting and give us more incentive to come back and give them even more money.