Auctions & Thrifting Archives • FAUX REAL THO

FAUX REAL THO

Three Foolproof Methods for Removing Verdigris from Fine and Costume Jewelry

Verdigris is what happens when metals are weathered and exposed to air and moisture over time. The good news is that it’s easy to remove, and it’s easy to remove from costume jewelry and fine jewelry alike.

How to Identify Sterling Silver Jewelry

Sterling silver is a common metal for jewelry because it ages well, is easy to manipulate, and is more affordable than gold or platinum. By definition, sterling silver is silver that is 925/1000 parts silver, or 92.5% silver. Pure silver (99% +) is too soft for jewelry-making so the highest silver content in jewelry is usually…

What is Siam Sterling?

Siam Sterling jewelry was manufactured from the 1930s through the 1980s, and was a very popular motif in the 1950-60s. Although Siam officially changed its name to Thailand in the 1940s, the “Siam” nickname for this style of jewelry stuck. Siam silver is officially called “Nielloware.” Niello is a black mixture of copper, silver, and lead, used as an inlay on engraved…

A History of Creepy Dolls

When I first started going to auctions, I accidentally bid on and won a creepy doll. At an estate auction, I didn’t like the cut of some lady’s jib, and bid her up on a random item to be a jerk and give her a hard time. This is a common, if ill-advised, auction practice —…

How to Identify Stanhope Jewelry

Several months ago, I lucked out and found a large stash of Stanhope novelty pieces at a garage sale. The collection I had to choose from was mostly religious icons, like tiny paintings of saints, the Lord’s Prayer, and other iconography hidden in keychains and cross pendants. The naughty Stanhopes, however are highly collectible —…

More on Thrift Store Shopping

1. I don’t thrift in town if I can help it. I travel to the smaller towns in the region, avoid Goodwill and Salvation Army, and hit up the little church thrifts in Nowhere, Indiana. One major reason I skip town that the tiny towns may not have excellent quality clothing, but they have a…

Who Was G.G. Drayton?

If you’re local to the Lafayette, Indiana, area and you’ve eaten at Arni’s, you are probably already familiar with G.G. Drayton’s art without realizing it. She was well-known in her time for creating the “Dolly Dingle” and “Kaptain Kiddo” characters, including an extremely popular line of paper dolls — which are featured in jumbo size…

“Showrooming”

It turns out they have a name for this thing I do, where I go to a store to get a look at something, decide whether I like it, then go home to find it online for the best price: Showrooming. [Finding something you like in store, then looking for it or a comparable item…

On the Vintage Spiro Agnew Watch by Dirty Time Company

I ran across this hilarious Spiro Agnew watch this weekend. Spiro Agnew was Nixon’s extremely unpopular vice president, and the first VP to resign from office due to criminal charges. One of the many jokes targeting Agnew was: “Did you know that Mickey Mouse wears a Spiro Agnew watch?” I don’t get it either. During…

One of my favorites: Schoolhouse Auctions in teeny-tiny Yeoman, Indiana.

That Auction Life: When all your belongings are disposable, for sale, or have a price.

One of my many hobbies is moonlighting as a vintage jewelry dealer. I’ve been thrifting since I was a teenager, and started getting into auctions in a serious way a few years ago. About that time, I started to specialize in jewelry and sell jewelry online. Why jewelry? It’s the subject of another post. Just…

Star City Vintage

Star City Vintage was built in order to promote my online jewelry business and solicit the opportunity to purchase jewelry in the Greater Lafayette area. This is a good example of how existing themes and tools can be utilized to throw together a nice-looking site with ease and speed.

MidCentury Jewelry

MidCentury Jewelry is a full-service jewelry store based out of Ohio, and the site was built to order with a light and airy theme with an Art Deco motif. MCJ’s previous website was built before a shop and blog could easily be integrated and hosted together, and the administrator found the old e-commerce sites difficult…