Posted 11 months ago
valentino97
(110 items)
1980: I was 20 w/my first real job as a graphic artist in a cool old dumpy print shop in downtown Omaha. My favorite lunch was spent in the nearby St. VDP, Lutheran thrift, Council thrift, Sal Army, Goodwill (yes - this was my neighborhood). I couldn't afford much but copper jewelry was very cheap. I started the collection w/25 cent earrings. Since then and now in CA my collection has grown to over 300 pieces - yet probably half came from the early prowling around the midwest. In 85 I offered $40 for a Rebajes bracelet off the wrist of a 20-something in a club in Pacific Beach but "it was her gramma's" and I didn't push. I have also been offered "off my wrist, jacket, neck and ears" for a full Rebajes set - and so I know how that feels. It's just too special to let go of. Boy I hope my nieces will appreciate their inheritance.
I'm still a graphic artist and...still poor?? (rich!! in life experiences) and I've enjoyed completing sets of my wonderful copper collection in all the junk and thrift stores across this country that I can get to!
I recommend "Copper Art Jewelry - A different lustre" by Burkholz and Kaplan for other copper nuts. This is an excellent source for info.
If These Shirts Could Talk: The Tantalizing Tales Behind Used Clothes
Jockeying for Position: How Boxers and Briefs Got Into Men's Pants
Gloriously Grotesque 19th-Century Pipes
In the Hot Seat: Is Your Antique Windsor a Fake?
Love at First Kite: How Pizza and Pente Led to One Oklahoman's High-Flying Obsession
Blood, Sweat, and Steel: My Afternoon with the Ace of Swords
'The Great Gatsby' Still Gets Flappers Wrong
Say Ahhh: An Oral Surgeon's Quest to Reimagine the Garage-Band Guitar
Forget TV Pickers, Meet the Real Mavericks of the Antiques World
Coveting The Craziest Cat-People Collectibles

What a great collection! I think your nieces will love them - especially if you educate them about the pieces as they grow so they appreciate them. :-)
Very nice pieces, I love copper as well, and I sell a lot of Renoir and Rebajes. That Ubangi brooch is a really desirable piece, they're going for good money on eBay
Thank you for your comment. I like the silver w/green too. It isn't marked but It's pretty great.