What's It Worth by Jeff Hess

A Chicago jeweler called last year with an unusual belt. It was made of 14 karat gold by an obscure jeweler, the Naples Jewelry Company. It had over 10 ounces of gold and had unusual imagery of crosses and stars and a hanging loop. It had the letters GIDGVMR on it. We researched Naples Jewelry Company and found it was an arts & crafts jeweler in an Italian area of Chicago in the 1920s.

Ok, so yeah, Tom Brady has brought joy and happiness to Tampa Bay.
He is the GOAT. We watched him as he led the team with self-assurance, cockiness, quickness of mind and physical agility. He promised stuff. And he delivered. The GOAT!

But who was really the MVP of the big game?

There were a few others who kicked butt and took names. Our pick is Devin White. Also self-assured. Also cocky. Also quick and agile. And oh yeah, he delivered.

The story behind portable wealth.
Scores of cultures and ethnic groups have been persecuted over the years, and their struggle to prevail is the reason behind portable wealth.

The diamond industry is said to be largely controlled by eastern Europeans, mostly of the Jewish faith. Because of the persecution the Jews have suffered through history, they needed to be ready to move at any time, and diamonds were a source of wealth they could easily carry and transport.

For many hundreds of years, long before today’s proper sanitation conditions were the norm, ladies of refinement often wore around their neck or wrist, or occasionally as earrings, small vessels filled with cloth soaked in perfume. These aromatic vessels would help mask the unsavory odors that emanated from open sewers, horse-drawn buggies ... and even other people. Milady would keep such an item on her person so she could quickly flood her olfactory sense with a pleasant fragrance; the delicate, variously perforated containers that released the fragrance were called vinaigrettes.

It’s not all about the Daytona and the Submariner. While we brag that we have owned more Rolex Daytonas than anyone on the planet, and are leaders in the US on vintage Rolex, it is not all about the Daytona and the Submariner, which admittedly pay a huge premium. There are sleepers like the GMT Master and Explorer. Here, three Rolexes that are not $20,000 to $100,000 chronographs, but seemingly simple watches that can bring good money.

While we have this for sale in our store for a paltry $9,900, trying to appraise the true value of this piece could be impossible.

Gems can be rocks. Gems can be glass. Gems can be almost anything. Gems that were living, breathing creatures are extraordinary – for example, pearls, or coral.

Coral, which is a marine invertebrate, has been endangered for many years, and is only now starting to come back with careful conservation and scientific research. Recently in this very paper there was a terrific article about growing coral in labs to rebuild the imperiled reef along Florida’s Atlantic coast.

We saw this image on social media this week, and have been thinking about it a lot. While Amazon.com, Target.com and BlueNile.com are excellent sites and have their role in modern retail, local businesses have websites, too.

It pleases us to offer for sale this week – as well as for informational purposes – this extraordinary pair of items. The top photo (and inset) is a Tiffany & Co. approximately 15.5 carat total weight, 7-plus-inches-long platinum diamond bracelet. This stunning art deco design has survived almost one hundred years in excellent condition, because it was housed in its original box. There are 7 larger stones, approximately 1 carat each; and 200 smaller diamonds.

Jewelers from across the country are a pretty tight-knit group, thanks to trade shows, trade associations and shared interests. And when the internet came along, it further tightened our community ties – and we love to trade!