Collecting Costume Jewelry 101 by Julia C. Carroll (2004)

If you can only buy one jewelry book, then this is the one to have. It is well organized, well written and is easy to follow for the beginner, but helpful to the advanced collector as well.

It has 304 pages which are chock full of high quality full color photographs. Most of the jewelry was shot against a white background which is easy on the eyes, and makes the jewels really "pop." It is arranged in alphabetical order by designer.

The book includes great chapters on the ins and outs of buying vintage jewelry and determining prices. Ms. Carroll is an author that also recognizes the importance of ebay in the jewelry collecting world. She includes several sections on how to find and sell jewelry on ebay. There is even a section on identifying the designers of unsigned jewelry, including Juliana.

The feature I found most helpful in the book is the detailed information about each designer, including dates of operation, a brief history, marks, signature looks and recommendations on what to collect. Of particular interest are the expanded sections on recommended designers for beginning collectors, including Weiss, Trifar, Coro & Kramer.

Collecting Costume Jewelry 101 is great for the beginner, but this experienced collector returns to it time after time! I give it 5 Suns Up! :-)

This book is FABULOUS! I have purchased many books on costume jewelry over my many years of collecting but I found this one to be the most informative along with page after page of crisp colored photographs. If you are new collector, or even one that has collected for years, this book will play a major part in your continuing to create an outstanding collection. Her recommendations and detailed information are extremely helpful. Since owning this book, the knowledge I have acquired has helped me add some of the most incredible pieces to my collection. I recently found out she has another book coming out very soon called "Collecting Costume Jewelry 202" and I can't wait to purchase it!!!! I highly recommend this book, it is the BEST COSTUME JEWELRY BOOK ON THE MARKET!

Excellent, high-quality color photographs throughout. Each designer has several examples to view. Pictures are of pieces in excellent condition. (No metal wear, chipped enamel/stones as seen in some other books.)

If you are interested in learning about the unsigned pieces that are attributed to specific designers, this book has a great section called "Marked by Style." This includes how to know when something is Juliana, Dorothy Bauer, Haskell, Hollycraft, Schreiner, Weiss, etc.

The book has the most useful patent number charts in any book I've found. Unlike Rezazadeh that only gives spans of time, this book gives the starting design patent number, as well as United States Patent Number, for each year from 1930 to 1981.

The book also gives drawings of jewelry findings and when they were first used in jewelry. The book also has more great information on when to buy and when not, etc.

The author gives details on each designer such as dates of operation, brief history, written descriptions of the marks they used, the signature look of the jewelry, and her personal recommendations regarding buying.

Overall, the information contained within the book is very good. However, for being a "101" beginner's book, the author got a little windy. Too much information is given for a new collector of costume jewelry. The book goes into great detail on repairing your own jewelry, upgrading, and selling your collection. There is just too much information for a beginner's book.

The author writes pages of step-by-step how-to specifics on taking photographs, listing, customer service methods after sale, relisting auctions, shipping auctions, specifc costs of listing auctions on eBay, etc., etc! The fee prices listed are out-of-date. Ebay's fees, policies and procedures change so frequently, that I recommend NOT buying this book just for the selling information!

Overall, great photos, great info on the designers and styles, great patent number charts. But just too much information at the end for a beginner. If you plan on going further with your collections and are interested in intricate cataloging of your collection, as well as jewelry cleaning and repair, this book may be perfect for you. It would be a "read part now, read the rest later" kind of guide.

Wonderful photos and descriptions added to the ease of using this book as reference for my collection of jewelry. Very well laid out with a wealth of information. Recommended for all collectors.