Vintage costume jewelry was meant to be the fashion of the day, with planned obsolescence and a short life span. Yet much of it has survived 50 to over 100 years, and we treat each piece with the greatest respect. We hate the thought of history being lost through carelessness. We value these treasures for their beauty, rarity and oddity; sometimes we value them because of their endearing homeliness.

As we say in our auction listings, we are not new to eBay, but selling on eBay together is a new venture made necessary by our inability to stop buying Vintage Costume Jewelry (or Jewellery, depending on which country you come from :-). As seasoned buyers and sellers, we are aware of buyersneeds and take our responsibilities seriously.

You may be familiar with our personal buying IDs, especially Mary, which is theo87dora. If you are a vintage costume jewellery seller, you may well have sold to her; if you are a buyer, then you have probably outbid her!

If you use Researching Costume Jewelry (authored by Dotty Stringfield and Pat Seal) on Dottie Stringfield's Illusion Jewels site, you may be familiar with Mary's name from the Dress Clips and Patents pages. If you are a member of JR, you will know her as Mary in England.

Renhas been an eBay member since 1998, and has bought and sold on a personal level as maxfocus for the past 8 years. Renpreviously sold on Ruby Lane as Lost Treasures Found, and always hopes to find some of her old Ruby Lane customers popping up here and on our new site, Maenads' Gems.

We are both proud members of The Jewelry Ring, one of the largest internet groups devoted to the discussion, identification and history of vintage and antique costume jewelry: its members range from the very knowledgable to the newly interested, and JR's friendly members share their knowledge generously with each other. We value both the information and the atmosphere of the Jewelry Ring and are aware that, as members, our behaviour in the world of Vintage Costume Jewelry will reflect on the group; we would never wish to let them down and so we will be doubly careful that we maintain a reputation for integrity.

Renis also a member of Jewel Collect, Jewelry Talk and The Silver Forum.

We are a couple of eccentric old women with insatiable curiosities (or should that be a couple of curious old women with insatiable eccentricities?) and lots and lots of cats.  It is undoubtedly true that neither of us is in the first flush of youth and that we probably view the world differently from most.

Renis a Fine and Graphic Artist, as well as an award-winning Photographer. She is the author of published articles on various topics, including vintage clothing and hand-made artisan jewelry. She is American.

Mary is a 3D Designer, B.A.(Hons), specialising in Silversmithing, and a retired teacher of whatever oodwork, Metalwork and Technical Drawingare currently called. She is English.

Our partnership across the Pond has had a steep learning curve, as we are both used to working either alone or as a part of a tightly constrained team. Learning to work together has not been easy and we are not ashamed to admit we have spent a lot of time getting it wrong and fully expect to suffer further confusion before it all becomes automatic.

The time difference between Florida and England has been an enormous help as it allows us to work over 24 hours in each day (between us!) on the rare occasions we find it necessary, and one of us is usually around while the other is sawing z's.

We have a small website, which is a natural outgrowth of our friendship and interests. Collectible jewellery is a hobby of ours and not a sualbusiness, if there is such a thing.

We look forward to doing business with you on the rare occasions we offer a few of our most special items to you here on eBay.

Kind regards,

Renand Mary

www.maenads-gems.us   ........  stop by and see us :-)