I recently had the wonderful opportunity to attend the first occurrence of Lueur NY, a new antique jewelry show from the renowned U.S. Antique Shows group. The Lueur jewelry show is remarkable in several ways, first and foremost because it features only jewelry.
Only jewelry!
The Lueur jewelry show was held in the Javitz convention center, in a room I’d never seen before – smaller and more private than the main event space. It was my understanding that this was the first time U.S. Antique Shows had held an antique jewelry show in this space, and some of the dealers and attendees I chatted with weren’t all delighted with the venue.
I heard rumors of difficulty with the setup logistics, and also with overzealous door security. I personally was searched every time I came back from the bathroom and was nearly denied entry twice. Thankfully, staff from the show office were called in both times and they vouched for me.
However, any new show will have kinks to work out, and the treasures on display more than made up for any inconvenience. The lighting was also better for photography than it sometimes is at these shows, and the aisles between booths were nice and wide.
It was an interesting mix of dealers, including several I’d never seen. I saw more vintage and estate pieces on display than I normally see at such events, as opposed to just antique jewelry. And oh my goodness, were there some exceptional pieces around.
I started by visiting the lovely Jane of Prather Beeland, whose beautifully displayed wares are always a delight. The opal ring above – which began life as a brooch, and has been expertly converted into a ring – pretty much blew my mind.
I also had the honor of meeting Gloria of Glorious Antique Jewelry.
She showed me these two Georgian sepia mourning rings. The motif on the left suggests the ring was in commemoration of a spouse, while the “nipt in the bud” motif showing a broken rosebud was typically used in memory of a child. Both pieces were in exquisite condition.
A pair of perfect Art Deco sapphire and diamond earrings at Rod Billing’s booth. They have an almost Art Nouveau feel, with those curving lines. But the colors are all Deco.
Salt + Stone’s Jackie on how she discovered she wanted to be a jewelry designer:
In Jackie’s own words:
This custom wedding set was designed for a couple who shared a love for The Fountain, the story of a a man goes searching for the tree of life so he and his dying wife can live together forever. The groom of this couple had also grown up on a farm full of apple trees – the very location he took his future bride to propose. (She said yes.)
All images and info are thanks to Salt + Stone. For information about purchasing any of these pieces, or for information about working with Jackie to design a custom ring, please contact 
Each antique engagement ring you look at brings you closer to The One. Will this one be it? Or perhaps the next? It’s waiting for you.
Take this one: the luscious Old Mine center diamond is held in a platinum trellis of millegrain openwork details sprinkled with smaller diamonds, a pattern which gives way to a geometrically engraved ring shank.
Older diamonds aren’t like modern diamonds. Their broader, less precise cuts are designed to come to life in candlelight, flickering softly with iridescence rather than sparkling as brightly as possible with clinically exact faceting.
Repeat after me: “Thank you so much! It’s an antique.”
Antique engagement rings are heirlooms looking to find families. A treasure like this has been passed down to you from history – if you make an antique engagement ring your own, it can become part of your family’s future.
A lot of engagement rings are pretty – that’s their job. The challenge is finding the one that feels like it was made exactly for you; the one that fits your personality when you’re dolled up for a night out or when you’re watching Netflix on your couch in yoga pants.
