Advertisement

Vintage jewelry holds its allure in Los Angeles

Share

Anyone who’s ever been to a flea market or estate sale knows that old jewelry is sometimes the best jewelry. Following on the heels of V Vintage in Beverly Hills (vvintage90210.com), which opened in June selling vintage pieces by Chanel, Dior, Miriam Haskell and others, comes House of Love and Luck. Opened just last week at 370 1/2 N. La Cienega Blvd., this vintage jewelry store has a selection that’s less expensive, $22 for 1980s album-cover earrings, say, or $132 for a 1950s choker with brown and yellow stones.


FOR THE RECORD: Photo captions accompanying a Dec. 14 Image article about jewelry designers who use vintage items in their work incorrectly listed the prices for two pieces by Tobi Tobin as $1,800. Her Marilyn necklace is $5,500, and her Jackie necklace is $3,950.


Designers are making what’s old new again too. Tobi Tobin recently found a home for the antique bits and baubles she’s collected in her travels as an interior designer. Shoe buckles from 1940s Spain, 1920s beaded appliqués from Hungary -- even samples of fabric Chanel camellias -- have become centerpieces of Tobin’s statement necklaces.

“I call it ‘regal rocker,’ ” she says of the collection, which is at Maxfield. Her necklaces, $1,375 and $3,900, are hefty, but look as delicate as tiaras, with the antique items hung from glittery strands of jeweled buttons she refers to as “princess necklaces.” (For imaginative sparkle at a slightly less princely price, the strung buttons go for $1,200 a foot.)

Advertisement

Of course, you can always make your own. Send your heirlooms, broken pieces or single earrings to Susan McDonald, designer of the Susan Jane jewelry collection, and she will make a custom bauble just for you. See susanjane.com for information. Lulu Frost (lulufrost.com) offers a similar service.

Magsaysay is a Times staff writer.

melissa.magsaysay@latimes.com

Advertisement