Vintage, anyone?

by Patty Lakinsmith

With all the talk about vintage lately, I thought I'd share a couple of my dearest vintage pieces. I'd say "a few" but I'm having trouble locating one particularly cherished piece.

Isn't this one grand? Purchased when I was a grad student living happily on $5K per year, it was and is a treasure to me even though it was not expensive. Judging from the underlying structure and the materials, it's clearly handmade, but for some reason I loved it then and still do now.

This next set of beads is truly special. They were my maternal grandmother's, and I don't know much about them except that one day when she was still alive, she went through her jewelry box and picked out some special pieces for me to have. I adored her, and it meant the world to me, even though some of the pieces would never probably leave my jewelry box, but they were there, reminding me of her each time I opened it.

They're obviously encased lampwork beads speckled with goldstone, probably imported (from where?), but I'm not sure of the vintage. There's a large seed bead in between each of them and the beads have brass filigree bead caps. I loved the multi-colored look, and the gradation in bead size. I have worn this necklace many times, and cherish it. I can't help but wonder about the occasion when she got them, whether grandpa gave them to her or she picked them out herself, and what she wore them with.

The piece I wish I could find is a brooch my Grandma wore when I was an infant, consisting of a proud Michigan slice of cherry wood (tastefully done in plastic) with a vibrant cluster of lucite or glass cherries protruding from it. When she held me in her arms as a baby I reportedly played with it. I know I have it, I just need to find it.

Are you sentimentally attached to some vintage pieces of your own? Do they have a special story to tell?