Paging LittleGreyKitten

[purelily]

Hi! At the risk of sounding like a pricescope stalker I came across one of your posts and noticed you worked at an antique mall. THEN I noticed you were in Seattle! I LOVE all of your jewelry pierces and am currently in search of an OEC or OMC antique engagement ring. Could you give me a few pointers in seattle on where to go?!

Thanks SO much in advance!!!

 

[LGK]

Hi

I'm always happy to enable a fellow antique jewelry lover! I would say you might find something very expensive at Alana- they have a LOT more repros now then they used to though, and their prices are always extremely high unfortunately. Isadora's on 1st ave in downtown Seattle tends to have good eyecandy, but again, high prices. I will say that they have absolutely gorgeous stuff though; Alana has a couple of Van Craeynest settings- it's worth the pain the price tag inflicts just to see them in person. And it's possible they might have some good deal hidden somewhere.

If you want to check out antique malls, you need to have a good idea what you're looking at because often you aren't going to get much info from the dealers' tags. Many many of the antique settings have modern round brilliants reset in them, unfortunately. Also, you won't see any certed pieces that I've ever seen- at best, you might get an "appraisal". So, you need to have a bit of an idea of what you are looking for, and looking at; that being said, you can find some nice pieces in antique stores/malls if you look carefully and patiently. Definitely make an offer on a piece if you like it.

For antique stores, I'd check out Antiques at Pike (right up from the Pike Place Market). Also the Pacific mall which is near that huge dump in Sodo, on 4th I think, they claim to be in Pioneer Square but not really! Issaquah/Gilman Village in Issaquah. Also the entire city of Snohomish- I work at the biggest mall in Snohomish (if you google "antique mall" you'll find us as the first result). As far as the inventory that belongs to the dealers at the mall I work at, they actually don't have any nice OECs right now

They all are beautiful antique settings with meh round brilliants in them, unfortunately. Can't speak for the rest of the malls in town- it's been way too long since I did the rounds.

There is one major dealer who owns the booths that sell the bulk of the antique jewelry in all of the antique malls in the Seattle area- you'll recognize his tags, they all look the same. He gets some beautiful settings but he resets them with round brilliants about 99% of the time... generally, he prices them about right at least.

To be honest, if you're looking for a nice OEC larger than, say, a half carat, I'd get it online. Both of mine were purchased online, and trust me- I would have gotten them from a store if I could have. I have just found that the ones that are out there in person are exhorbitantly expensive. Old World Diamonds and Jewels by Erica Grace are my first choices of vendors for antique stones, followed by eBay and Singlestone. I know your BF wants to find one in person but the choice will be pretty limited and you will pay a signficant premium unless you get quite lucky. Erica of JBEG might meet with you in person, though- she's local-ish I think.

Oh- here's a thought. Make sure you go to all the antique shows in the area. Tacoma Dome hosts the Palmer Wirf show a few times a year and there's ALWAYS nice jewelry at that show. Also there's a huge Palmer Wirf show in Portland a couple times a year, which is very worth the drive. If you're not in a huge hurry they're worth waiting to go to, I think.

 

[LGK]

my dh says there is a palmer wirf show in puyallup this coming weekend. probabably smallish but might be worth going to.

 

[purelily]

Hi LittleGreyKitten,
Thank you for your help! It was VERY Helpful!!!


I went to Alana and I found a ring I absolutely LOVE. My SO said he does not think he will buy it immediately tomorrow (which makes me sad) but that he will take some time in deciding. We are going tomorrow though. Maybe if he sees how happy I am with it on my finger he''ll feel pity on me.

If I do get it soon though, I will post pictures so you can see what the outcome was !

 

[LGK]

Oooh, I''m totally curious about what you picked out! I do love browsing at Alana. They have some really pretty stuff; I do think they have a higher proportion of new stuff, rather than genuine antiques, than they used to, but they do carry some nice lines of new antique repro merchandise like Beverly K and stuff. I like to visit their Van Craeynest settings sometimes.

The sales associates are always really nice, and very helpful. Hope your BF snatches the ring up quick