"All that Glisters is not Gold"

On thanksgiving my Aunt let me raid a basket full of costume Jewelry that belonged to her mother (my grandmother) and her husband's mother. She said that whatever I didn't take would probably end up at Goodwill, so I took almost everything. There were only about 4 things left when I was done. This is going to be a long post with many pictures, because I got so much!

Some of these items were Christmas, which made me so happy because I don't really have much wonderful retro Christmas jewelry:

 The first picture shows things that look like they were handmade, by my uncle's mother. The pin on the top right has a twin in green, unfortunately I don't have a picture. The second picture is a pair of screw on earrings with matching brooch from the 1940's! My great aunt labeled everything, and thank goodness too, because it helps me know how old things are!

I got several sparkly ones too! Silver pins with rhinestones galore!

 These aren't the greatest pictures, but as you can see there are man, many brooches! The first picture is a set with brooch and earrings (or possibly shoe buckles. Once I figure out for sure, I will update) from, what I could tell, from the 20's or 30's. These I think were my grandmother's. The second picture has: earrings (top left), buckle (bottom left), star pin (top center), floral rhinestone brooch (center), and two rhinestone pins (bottom center, one is oblong and one circular), a crown pin (second from right), and a starburst brooch (right).

I got several gold toned pieces too:

First things first: Those are earrings, beautiful earrings. All of them are for pierced ears. The second picture has three brooches. Unfortunately two didn't have much information: the giant chain buckle brooch and the one with the tassel. The flowers, however, did have a lot of information. It is from the 20's, and is made of silver coated in rose gold. I was not going to leave something like that behind! Not only is it truly old, it is wonderfully beautiful! The third is simply an earring/brooch set, nothing special. The fourth picture has fake cameo jewelry: a pin with matching earrings, and a locket. It is so lovely, and I can't wait to find someone's picture to put in it. The last picture has some of the most beautiful jewelry in this set. It is a brooch and earrings. It is hard to tell, but it has purple and green stones, along with pearls. I don't think any of it is real, but it makes me think of Italy and wine.

I also got some almost hippie-like floral jewelry:

There were two pairs of earrings with the bracelet. One that actually corresponds with it (top), and one that just looks similar (bottom). Some of the flowers have fallen off the bracelet, but it still looks good. It is hard to tell from a distance.

I have two more things to show you, but one is significantly more fantastic!

There is a lovely pair of blue earrings (though they almost look black in this picture), and a gold-toned bracelet....or is it?

It is a watch! I was blown away by this. It looks like a gold chain bracelet, but it has a hidden watch! It needs a new battery, but other than that, it is in perfect condition.

Okay, now to the title of the post. This is a quote from The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare. What it means is that just because something looks beautiful on the outside doesn't mean it is beautiful on the inside. It is meant to be talking about character, but I took it loosely to pertain to costume jewelry. Most of this is costume jewelry, and just because it is beautiful, doesn't mean it is real gold.

That is all I have, I say that like it isn't much. Getting jewelry that used to belong to family members makes me so happy, because I get to continue the legacy.

I hope your thanksgiving was wonderful!