A Stroll Down Maven Lane
I went to the furthest corner of the house. I had to climb over some boxes and a hideous yellow flower couch to suddenly stumble upon a beautifully painted antique wooden Japanese box. It was in this box that I discovered my great-grandmother's jewelry along with a silk scarf that seemed to beckon me. With the soft, threadbare silk between my fingers, I opened the handkerchief to discover treasure as I had never seen before! An 1890s exquisite gold Victorian garnet pair of earrings and necklace along with two 18k citrine rings.
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I had never seen jewelry like this before, and the broken blinds of the dreary basement didn't make a great place to examine my most recent find. I knew the rings, earrings, and necklaces were stunning, but when I rushed upstairs to the full light of day, I saw their true unique beauty. Laying there next to the antique jewelry, I could truly see the unique cuts of the stones; something I had never seen before in modern jewelry. I could feel the weight of quality and value in each piece. This was the moment when it all began, a love affair for genuine antique jewelry and a passion and craving to know more. I would find myself on the floor of the library looking at photos of Georgian era gems and be in complete awe.
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Now, I used to think that I was cursed with expensive taste. I'm the type of girl who unconsciously b-lines for the things in stores that are the most valuable and have the biggest price-tags. However, as the years went on, I realized that this was actually a blessing when it came to assessing the value of antique jewelry. Eventually, I became obsessed with studying the detail of each piece, appreciating the craftsmanship along with the antique value. I found that a teenager's hobby became a woman's passion. What I found in those pieces created by hand was the unique story and soul of the era and people they were made for. It all began with my understanding that each piece has its own story to tell and that each piece is a unique work of art. I love that the pieces are hand-cut and hand-crafted, adding a fingerprint to the already charming story of lineage and eras that they come from.
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The funny thing is that my eye for detail has always been bordering on OCD. I have driven my husband mad by hanging and re-hanging pictures until they were perfect. So you would think that the small imperfections in antique jewelry would bother me. However, my passion could not have grown from studying jewelry made in assembly-line fashion.
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I purchased my very first piece of antique jewelry when I was 19 years old at a consignment shop. It was an Edwardian ring with diamonds and sapphires for only $150.00. When I took it home and researched I realized that this exquisite little beauty was worth more than $500! I would start purchasing antique rings from pawn shops, flea markets, or estate sales always able to find the overlooked "gems in the rough". Later on, I discovered similarly passionate collectors and sellers on Instagram who became my community of people who understand and value antique jewelry with the same passion that I do! I have found so much joy while on the hunt finding antique pieces and sharing them with the world on Instagram! In this discovery, I decided to make this a full-time lifestyle and start my own little shop online: Maven Lane Antiques.
Welcome!
~Maven