Layerable Looks and Mix of Eras Thrive at Original Miami Beach Antique Show
Original Article featured on Rapaport.com./Jewelry Connoisseur ( https://rapaport.com/jewelry-connoisseur/layerable-looks-and-mix-of-eras-thrive-at-original-miami-beach-antique-show/)
(opening photo of antique bracelet, circa 1890, Sandra Cronan)
Dealers sold pieces from the 17th century to the 1970s at the Florida fair, with popular trends including charms and chains
Wilson’s Estate Jewelry’s Bulgari Parentesi Collection necklace
The latest edition of the Original Miami Beach Antique Show brought dealers from Europe and throughout the US, offering jewelry that spanned approximately seven periods.
Exhibitors and visitors at the five-day show reported sales trends similar to last year’s: mainly layerable pieces such as pendants, charms and gold chains, particularly in Victorian, mid-20th-century and 1970s styles. While the show’s participants featured pieces from across different eras, they found that authenticity, rarity, and items that spoke personally to the buyer were in popular demand.
Although the event is primarily a consumer show, many retailers came to purchase as well — both those specializing solely in antique and vintage, and contemporary or classic jewelry stores working to build up their estate departments.
Keyamour’s Snake Bracelet
Heart of the matter
Georgian and Victorian charms and pendants continued to be an inspiration for neck layering, according to attendee Rebecca Selva, creative director of famed New York antique and vintage shop Fred Leighton.
“I was struck by the amount of these kind of easy, nostalgic and sentimental pieces we were able to see and purchase at the show,” she said. “The personal story a customer can create by combining different styles in these categories is still one of the most popular and relevant trends.”
Specifically, she continued, “we saw many interesting hearts and different styles of chains. Diamond rivières and single line necklaces from the 19th throughout the mid-20th centuries work well as the top layering piece, and we are always in the market for these — they are perennial favorites.”
Sandra Cronan Georgian diamond rivière
Keyamour’s antique double heart, arrow and flame sentimental brooch
Exhibitor Dana Kiyomura of New York-based antique and vintage jeweler Keyamour also cited a renewed interest in heart lockets and pendants, from Victorian styles to signed pieces from the mid-20th century. One piece she had on display was an enamel, diamond and pearl remembrance heart with a royal history: Britain’s Queen Victoria gifted the heart to her granddaughter Princess Beatrice after the death of the latter’s husband Prince Henry, with the inscription “From Grandmama.” This piece had all three of the key selling points that participants highlighted at the show: important provenance, rarity, and sentimentality.
Keyamour’s heart locket Queen Victoria gifted the heart to her granddaughter Princess Beatrice
Links to the past
Chains and meaningful charms were some of the top selling items for UK exhibitors Ismael Khan of Ishy Antiques, and Pat Novissimo of Lowther Antiques. The same was true for Illinois-based exhibitor Diane Richardson of The Gold Hatpin, who cited “watch and Albert chains that were long enough to wear with multiple pendants” as her key sellers, as well as “charms with interesting subject matter.”
The Gold Hatpin’s Victorian Curb Link Watch Fob Chain
The Gold Hatpin’s Vintage Charms
Diana Singer of New York-based dealer D&E Singer also pointed to chains as one of her top-selling items. “I am selling them from all different periods in all different lengths, from watch to guard chains to distinctive early-’80s Bulgari gold necklaces.”
Similarly, Khan found that “statement gold necklaces continue to be the main priority for our clients.”
Clients of Wilson’s Estate Jewelry in Pennsylvania were also seeking “unique gold pieces with bold designs that could be suitable for everyday wear or easily elevated,” according to co-owner Brad Wilson. “A perfect example is the Parentesi collection from Bulgari, which features a fitted geometric gold pattern — a design that could be incorporated into a contemporary wardrobe.”
Strutting their stacks
It wasn’t just the sales trends that caught participants’ attention. People walking the show were themselves wearing “a mix of antique, vintage and modern bracelets stacked, as well as a combination of contemporary and antique charms around their necks,” observed Mara Freedland Mirsky, owner of Florida-based dealer Jewelrider, who was attending as a buyer.
This indicates that jewelry wearers are finally catching on to combining pieces from different eras rather than sticking with one period. Besides adding another dimension to the look, mixing eras makes older pieces feel more modern and stylishly curated.
Singer witnessed the same type of stacking and layering among people shopping at her booth: “I was impressed with how clients were choosing and wearing a mix of looks and popular styles from different times. Layering and stacking are still key with both private clients and stores. They were buying all types and eras of bangles, and a few of my stores purchased a range of wedding bands in both gold and platinum, [with] diamonds and engraved looks for their customers, who like to pile various bands on one or more fingers.”
Rocking color and rarity
Suzanne Martinez, co-owner of San Francisco’s Lang Antiques, was looking for statement-style colored-gemstone rings from the Victorian through Retro 1940s periods and found a cross-section of styles at the show.
“Our customers are interested in all types of gemstones, from tourmalines to spinel to aquamarine and also emeralds, and I was thrilled to find them in looks that were priced accessibly,” she said.
Freedland Mirsky cited micromosaics from the Grand Tour era and signed pieces as popular themes. This fit with reports from UK-based exhibitors Richard Spicer of Spicer Warin and Catherine Taylor of Sandra Cronan; their customers sought rare, museum-quality pieces on the higher end, be it antiques from the 19th century or signed pieces from the 20th century.
Spicer-Warin’s antique gem set butterfly
Ishy Antiques Georgian diamond earrings
Timepieces and timeless motifs
Watches are another category that has continued to gain traction, due in part to the timepieces that celebrities have been sporting on the red carpet and to the cyclical nature of vintage trends.
New York exhibitor, watch connoisseur and author Edward Faber of Aaron Faber Gallery reported ongoing sales in renowned brands — specifically vintage Rolex, Cartier, Audemars Piguet and Jaeger-LeCoultre models — but also a great deal of interest in 1950s timepieces, as well as military watches from both world wars.
Watch and jewelry dealer Timekeepers saw “a lot of interest in chronographs from the 1970s, as well as different styles of Omegas, Vacheron Constantin, and other brands from the 1950s,” according to jeweler Eduard Pernik, who was exhibiting for the Clayton, Missouri, company.
Aaron Faber Gallery’s military Omega watch
Timekeepers’ Chronograph from the seventies
Cultural factors were also influential at the show. Selva, who purchases pieces from multiple time periods, was particularly excited about “finding some rare examples of Art Deco jewelry, due to this year being the 100th anniversary of the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris” — the event that gathered the proponents of this revolutionary style in one space and gained the movement international momentum.
Sandra Cronan diamond Art Deco clip brooch which splits into two clips
Meanwhile, snake jewelry is more popular than ever as 2025 ushers in the Chinese lunar calendar’s Year of the Wood Snake. The serpent motif has been a favorite since Queen Victoria received a serpent engagement ring in the 19th century, and it continued to gain steam throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries. Kiyomura, Warin and Richardson all reported selling snake rings and bracelets from different time periods.
Spicer-Warin antique snake bracelets
Gold Hatpin antique signet ring with snake shank
