Hunting for jewellery treasure
Rooting in charity shops is like buying a scratch card – you might leave empyhanded or this might be the day you find a Max Mara coat (as I did recently) or a Zandra Rhodes necklace.
Oddly I don’t remember ever buying jewellery in a charity shop, maybe because it’s often guarded by a rather severe assistant. Now all that could change as I’ve discovered online charity shops are selling second hand jewellery.
I’ve looked at two this week – Cancer Research UK online shop and Oxfam.
The Cancer Research shop lists secondhand and new goods alongside each other which has its drawbacks. I wrote about some gorgeous long Catherine Stein ear-rings but by the time I came to publish this they’d disappeared! I went back and found a wonderful bracelet but decided to buy that myself so that’s also gone now. As the stock’s obviously changing all the time I suggest you go and have a look at the full range here.
I found the new jewellery at Oxfam a bit disappointing I have to admit, especially its Ethical Collection. (When I see that title I always think I’ll find big chunky wooden/seed beads.) Then I went to the Secondhand Store and found so many treasures it was hard to choose one.
What about this fabulous handmade vintage silver brooch?
It’s Danish and marked RS which is understood to be Randers Solvvarefabrik and means it comes from the silverware factory in Randers in Jutland. The company started in 1968 and ended in 2000 so the brooch was made sometime between those dates. It measures almost 8 cms and costs £55 (no postage charge). This is a one-off so apologies if it’s already been sold by the time you get to the site. Still, with 1200 items there’s plenty more to go through -to start rooting click here
