Vintage Costume Jewelry Novels & Stories

The auctioneer lifted the velvet display box for the audience to see. “This rare vintage emerald set is one of a kind, the only one from the 16th century royal family of England,” he announced. The stones sparkled brilliantly under the stage lights. “Bidding begins at ten million dollars.” My eyes widened slightly. Ten million? That’s huge. Zane leaned closer to me. “Do you like it?” he asked quietly. “It’s beautiful,” I admitted. Then I shook my head quickly. “But it’s too expensive. 10million for just jewelry?”

Dark jeans or slacks. T-shirts with Tim Burton characters. Doc Martins and platform shoes and boots. Rockabilly shirts with skull and spider accents. Fitted pencil skirts and retro dresses with crinoline petticoats. After the incident with her now ex-mother-in-law, the jewelry began to appear. Silver skull earrings. Spider web bracelets. Bat wing hair clips. Never a necklace. Not until the spiderweb collar that she still had not taken off. Her hand absently moved to the chains around her neck with the little spider tucked under her t-shirt. Technically, his t-shirt.

She did not want to traumatize him any more. Vanessa quickly refreshed up, and packed up all the jewelleries that Julien had gifted her in the past without bothering if they were authentic. Looking at the exquisite workmanship, Vanessa thought that she could probably sell them at a good price. Not only did she pack up the jewelry, she had also packed up a couple of evening gowns. She didn't know much about jewelleries and fashion. However, the material of these gowns were very comfortable, so they were probably worth something too.

Fake as hell and cheap but it made the outfit look smoking hot, even with tennis shoes. I had a ton of costume jewelry in a variety of sizes and colors, thanks to Barb. She loved it, sold it, collected it, gifted it, you name it. Therefore, it was what we all received as Christmas gifts, birthdays, special gift for our hard work during a busy rush, basically any reason she could find to gift us with the five dollar pieces she sold. Looking in the mirror, I saw the appeal. Twenty dollars in cheap jewelry had taken my outfit from a six or seven to a ten. I looked hot and my hair was still in a towel and I hadn’t touched my makeup yet.

But even that wasn't all. He was also adorning a Rolex Daytona Rainbow Cosmograph, a highly desired and luxurious timepiece known for its colorful gemstone bezel. Although it might have appeared modest at first glance, Vanessa knew its true value. With an estimated price tag of tens of thousands of dollars, it only further confirmed her suspicions about Josh's true background. His choice of accessories, from the costly watch to the designer sneakers, painted a clear picture of a lifestyle far removed from that of an average college student.

He said and his mother hung up. “So, what is this gift that you got for her?” Isabelle asked, not for the first time today. “My mother has a collection of brooches made during or before the 17th century and I had someone look into it to find me one of the first and most exotic ones made in Vietnam at the that time. I was going to give it to her on her birthday but unfortunately, my contact hadn’t found it yet but now, he has and he dropped it off at the office,” Josh told her.

Irina arrived with her arm looped through Corbin's, while Jared and Hector stood nearby. The auctioneer's energetic voice rose above the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, let us begin our day with a true vintage beauty, the 'Dear Ilia' white gold, emerald, and diamond necklace, crafted over three years by the famed 18th-century Florentine jeweler, Alois Fontaine. Opening bid, 26,000 dollars." My eyes caught the dazzling light reflecting off the necklace, and my heart skipped a beat. My mother had always loved jewelry that combined emeralds and white gold. She used to wear a necklace in a similar style.

With a peeling label taped across it: HEIRLOOM JEWELRY My brows drew together. I pulled it closer and lifted the lid. Inside lay a velvet pouch—old but carefully wrapped—as if she’d never once used the jewelry but couldn’t bring herself to throw it away. I loosened the knot and emptied the contents onto my palm. A necklace. Matching earrings. A bracelet—delicate gold filigree with tiny blue stones that glowed even in the dim storage light. Expensive—not in a flashy way, but in the way old, sentimental pieces are.

On the other, a vanity table sat cluttered with things I hadn’t expected—small glass bottles of perfume, a jar of hairpins, and a tangle of necklaces, each one unique. I walked to the vanity and ran my fingers over a thin silver chain with a small sun pendant. Beside it, there was one made of polished amber, warm to the touch even now. Some pieces were clearly valuable, but others… others looked like they had been made by hand. A braided leather cord with beads strung through it, their colors faded. I found myself smiling faintly. These weren’t just for court appearances.

"Mrs. Blackwood, nothing is too expensive for you." Leslie’s heart thrummed at his words, and she looked away from him, tucking herself into her chair to avoid his intense gaze. The next item that was brought out caught Leslie’s eye, and Julian noticed—it was a pearl necklace that was subtle, yet oh so elegant. Leslie looked away from it and bit her lip in contemplation.Julian smiled knowingly. "Alright everyone, this is one of our rare pieces from the Victorian era. We were lucky to have found this," the MC announced. "So the bidding will start from 100,000 dollars."