Diamonds and gemstones have an interesting ability to create immediate opinions. A stone comes out of an old jewelry box, catches the light, and somebody inevitably announces that it must be worth a fortune. Maybe. Maybe not. As the owner of KenWorks in Metairie, Louisiana, I’ve learned that gemstones are very good at keeping secrets....
Almost every family has one. Maybe it’s an old cigar box tucked away in a closet. Maybe it’s a coin album sitting on a bookshelf. Maybe it’s a coffee can hidden on the top shelf of a garage that nobody has opened since cassette tapes were considered modern technology. At some point, a family member...
One of my favorite things about antique jewelry is that every piece has two stories. The first is the obvious one—who wore it, where it traveled, and how it eventually found its way into another jewelry box decades, or even centuries, later. The second story is written into the design itself. Long before anyone starts...
Every few years, someone predicts the mechanical watch is about to disappear. First it was quartz. Then cell phones. Then smartwatches. Apparently, mechanical watches have been “on the way out” for decades. Oddly enough, they never seem to leave. As someone who has spent a lot of time around fine watches, I’ve noticed something interesting....
It’s funny how people treat jewelry. A ring can be one of the most valuable things a person owns, worn every single day for years, and somehow the maintenance plan becomes, “I’ll wipe it on my shirt and call it good.” If only everything in life were that easy. Fine jewelry is built to last,...
By Ken Bowers, Owner of KenWorks, Metairie, Louisiana One of the things that makes antique jewelry so fascinating is that every piece carries a little bit of history with it. A ring is never just a ring. A brooch is never just a brooch. A necklace is never just a necklace. Many antique pieces are...
Selling jewelry, gold, silver, platinum, diamonds, and other precious metals often involves more than a simple financial transaction. For many individuals, these items carry personal history, sentimental significance, and substantial value. As a result, trust continues to play an important role in the decision-making process when selecting a buyer for jewelry and precious metal assets....
Most people don’t wake up on a Tuesday morning and suddenly decide to sell a piece of jewelry just for fun. Usually, there’s a story involved. Maybe it’s an inherited piece from a family estate. Maybe it’s a watch that’s been sitting in a drawer for years. Maybe it’s jewelry that no longer fits a...
There is something fascinating about a mechanical watch. In a world filled with smartphones, smartwatches, computers, tablets, and devices capable of communicating with satellites orbiting thousands of miles above the Earth, a mechanical watch still manages to capture attention. Perhaps that is because a mechanical watch accomplishes something remarkable using technology that has existed for...
Most people can look at a diamond and determine one thing. It sparkles. That is usually where the evaluation process ends for the average person. Gemologists, however, tend to look at things a little differently. A gemstone may appear beautiful sitting inside a ring, pendant, or piece of estate jewelry, but a professional evaluation involves...