American Costume Jewelry, 1935-1950 by Carla Ginelli Brunialti, Roberto Brunialti (1997, Book, Illustrated)

As a long time private collector of Vintage Costume Jewelry from the deco era to the 1970's i already own many books on the subject. Friends would ask me, do you have the Brunialti's book, and i would always say no, not because i did not want to buy it, but because i could not find it anywhere for sale. I have done searches everywhere for this book, but being out of print i always thought Ebay would be be best source. I also knew it would be expensive, from 200. to over 400. when you can find it, but i was very fortunate to find a great seller on ebay that had it up for auction, it was expensive, not 400. thankfully, but it is well worth every dollar. The only drawback is the book is in Italian, if you are fluent in French or Spanish it's not difficult to understand some of the descriptions. Also you can always do as i just did, find an online Italian English Dictionary that i now turn to for certain words i don't understand. Back to the book, the photographs are EXTRAORDINARY. Each and every photograph taken is large and clear. In addition there are wonderful vintage ads illustrated, and patents too. Each item is described by date, manufacturer, material and a description. The Brunialti's have obviously done their research, each piece of vintage jewelry is a work of art and exceptional pieces of costume jewelry are selected from the most prominent manufacturers. Many of their pieces are chosen for their historical significance which is also important for the serious collector since certain materials were developed and used during World War II. I was happy to find many of my own pieces illustrated in this book too. Again, if you are a serious collector of Vintage Costume Jewelry, this book is a must. I expect it will be even more difficult to find in the future. There is a second book written by the Brunialti's that is also important to own and also hard to find - A Tribute to America, covering the same 15 year period. My best advice is try to buy both, learn Italian and you won't regret it.