Collector's Guides by Graham Rae, John Wainwright, Judith Miller (2003, Hardcover)

Several years ago, I decided to try my hand at selling a few pieces of vintage costume jewelry along with the textiles I had already been selling. I had always been fascinated by antique jewelry pieces and had purchased some lovely brooches, as well as a few pretty earring pairs, in high school and college. The only problem was that I had always just bought what I liked, paying little attention to designers or materials. In an effort to better educate myself on the subject, I went to a local bookstore and grabbed the only book on the shelf relating to vintage jewelry, Judith Miller's Collector's Guide to Costume Jewelry. Since then, I have browsed and/or purchased many similar books, but this has remained my favorite. Ms. Miller's book presents a wide range of designer signed and unsigned pieces, accompanied by vivid descriptions that will help beginners and more seasoned collector's develop a deep appreciation for and understanding of the elements that make vintage costume jewelry so collectible. She also manages to provide succint but extremely informative information about key designers and processes without boring the reader with large blocks of mundane text. Best of all is the fabulous photography which is so detailed that you feel as if you're holding each of the pieces in your hand!

This book is great! It has clear, vibrant photographs of the jewelry. It is also layed out well. I liked the designer profiles in the beginning as well.
If you drool over costume jewelry like I do, than you will truly enjoy this book.

I already purchased several times this book for friends who saw my own copy.
Clear, simple, good pics. i recommend this book.

I loved the whole book.Rated excellent!This book includes the story of costume jewelry,designer profiles,A-Z of designers and makers.Hot collecting field:Austrian fruits,Bakelite,Christmas tree pins,Coro duettes,Plastic jewelry,and Scottish agate jewelry.Along with the mass array this book contains a gallery of unsigned pieces.Figurals,blackamoor,human figurals creature pins flower,fruit and leafpins,earrings,bangles and exclusive infomation of the different designers.That happened to be my favorite part in the book.All the designers and their famous clients.Along with the awestruck photography.A simple format of the designers jewelry,material used.Each page contributed to the designers include:Designer information(insight on their life and career.The charecteristics of their jewelry,styles,mofits,or the limited editions that are best to collect).Biography(Provides history of the designers career,events listed,birth,death,dates,the creation and closure of costume companies).Feature box(details that influenced the profiled designer,or a material or style to his or hers costume jewelry)Futher feature bar(Shows influences and inspirations behind the costume jewelry,their famous clients,and the positive effect on the designers career).Abbreviations for the different pieces.The caption (describes the piece of jewelry.Length,width or circumferance).A price guide(giving the reader a ball park figure on what you should expect to pay).Mini feature box(hilights mofit,style,material,or technique used by the designer.Including why that piece is so collectable).Good,better,best(this feature compares three specially selected pieces of jewelry.Also explaining why certain charecteristics make the jewelry more or less desirable to costume jewelry collectors).Last this area include a source code area.(with the exception of museum pieces,Where every item in the book was photographed at an auction house,dealer,antiques market or a private collection.Each source is credited in the back area of book.I wouldnt give this book up ever!I purchased this book because I really think Judith Miller knows what shes talking about.The Best!