Costume Jewelry a Practical Handbook & Value Guide

Of all my jewelry reference books I own, I use this one the most. It has a wide range, good photos, practical information on the manufacture. I wish I could find one like it with current prices. It's great!

This book provides a short introductory section on cleaning buying selling etc and then write ups on different jewelry companies. The introduction is good for people with little information about caring for jewelry: displaying, cleaning, storing and repairing. It is sometimes humorous, as when Rezazadeh describes the meticulous procedure he goes through to clean his jewelry and then recalls discovering that his wife cleaned her jewelry by scrubbing it with a tooth brush and then blow drying it. There is also a bit about apraising and the supply and demand at work. I doubt that this is a book for dealers, because they presumably already have good resources and knowledge. The body of the book has short entries on different jewelry companies. About a page is dedicated to each, but there are sometimes two to a page and sometimes four or five pages to a widely spread company. Each company gets a short write up and photo of some jewelry pieces. The photos are good, but obviously not full page. They are enough to oo and ah over. Each photo has a caption describing the jewelry and giving an estimate for price it would cost. Companies are grouped into European and imported depending on where they were located. There are also sections on unmarked jewelry. These are grouped by how they are made (enamel, Austrian crystal, plastic, etc.). Since there is no company these sections have more pictures to text. If you are into vintage including jewelry then this could be a fun book. Also if you design jewelry then the multitude of pictures here can be a good resource for ideas and inspiration. The pictures are the highlight of this book.

Being new to the world of costume jewelry and collecting, I found this book to be invaluable. The photos and descriptions have helped me identify many pieces that I had difficulty with before. I especially like the section on unmarked pieces. I found six pieces I own on these pages. I recommend this book to anyone who collects or just enjoys costume jewelry.

As a newbie in the costume jewelry field, I was at first intimidated by this book. So big, beautiful, and all those names -- Eisenberg, Caviness, Lisner, Weiss -- I never thought I'd get them straight. But Mr. Razazadeh does a phenomenal job of explaining each designer, giving hints on how to care for costume jewelry (boy, did I need that advice), and for presenting the most beautiful photographs of stunning pieces. I learned a great deal from this book. I hope Mr. Razazadeh writes another book soon!

I have most every book on costume jewelry; seem to collect the books as much as the jewelry. This one is wonderful--full of hundreds of COLOR photos, great examples shown, and it's not all the rare stuff but pieces I actually own. The value guidance seems to be pretty accurate with what's selling in my part of the country.Mr R has done a great job--thank you!