On The Beauty Of Prop Jewelry Collecting
While it would be more than enough, Mary Ann Cade doesn’t only discover, preserve, and collect silent film history presumed lost, she also collects props from television and movies. Now she’s back again with some tips for other collectors — including photos of her most recent prop jewelry acquisitions.
On the desirability of jewelry props: The items are one of a kind and cross collectible because if they are a prop from a show or film, they are sought after by prop collectors of that show or film, fans of an actress, etc., as well as collectors of jewelry.
Brooch From Meet Joe Black
Necklace From Meet Joe Black
On why she loves jewelry props: The neat thing about collecting jewelry worn in films, is that, like wardrobe, one can wear it too instead of it sitting on a shelf collecting dust and taking up space.
Earrings From Sex & The City
Earrings From The Titanic
A few words on the pricing of film and television props: The beauty of prop collecting is that most of the props I buy are pretty inexpensive. Most brooches or earrings sell from $24.99 to $39.99. There are some props that are more expensive, but it has to do with size or if the item was worn by a specific star and sold as a star worn item. That can drive the price up quickly.
Brooch From Designing Women
Earrings From Bewitched
On selection, Mary sounds a lot like CQ’s very own Val Ubell: The best thing to do is check out the items and buy something that takes one’s fancy, either the color of the stones in a piece of jewelry, I look at size of items (I like large brooches for example) with lots of colors and I also like white diamondesque things too.
Earrings From Somewhere In Time
Pin From I Love Lucy
On the additional fun and challenges of collecting movie memorabilia and television props: I urge anyone who collects props to watch a film or show and pay close attention to the set and what the actors are wearing and make a mental note of something because it may show up for sale sometime in the future!
Pin From Practical Magic
#13 Lucky 13, that is. Samantha wore this. Mary has one of the copies of the Bewitched necklace Elizabeth Montgomery is wearing in this photo. “The one I have is one of the copies of her originals that was worn on the show after the original was lost during the series run. I put mine on a longer chain and have both the original chain and the heart charm. It is one of my prized pieces.”
