{"id":39272,"date":"2025-01-21T06:11:53","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T06:11:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/antique-2\/jewelry-collection-story-elisa-of-chelseagirl-nyc-gem-gossip\/"},"modified":"2025-01-21T06:11:53","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T06:11:53","slug":"jewelry-collection-story-elisa-of-chelseagirl-nyc-gem-gossip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=39272","title":{"rendered":"Jewelry Collection Story \u2013 Elisa of @chelseagirl.nyc – Gem Gossip"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"Chelsea<\/p>\n

\"Chelsea<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s jewelry collection story comes from longtime collector Elisa of Chelsea Girl NYC<\/strong> \u2013 the original \u201cjunk pile\u201d queen of the diamond district. Elisa has had a love affair with vintage and antique things since she was a little girl, eventually making it her lifelong career. She recently has brought along her daughter Ruby for the ride and between both mother and daughter they run both @chelseagirl.nyc and @talesfromthejunkpile<\/p>\n

Excited to give you a look into Elisa\u2019s personal jewelry stash and have her tell her story:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was 6, my Spanish grandmother gave me an 18k gold charm bracelet with three charms\u2026an artist\u2019s palette, a tea pot and a bell. I. Was. Hooked. Even as a kid, I insisted that each charm have personal meaning. I would search for the perfect charms, no matter how long it took, and I always persevered. One summer in Spain I spent three\u00a0weeks going to jewelry stores in search of a Spanish fan charm that met all my elaborate criteria (I was 10.)\u00a0I added charms frequently, until college, when no more fit. Then I started a new charm bracelet, exclusively with handbag charms (I was always a purse fanatic!)\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Chelsea<\/p>\n

\"Chelsea<\/p>\n

\u201cI love bold, confident pieces, especially ones from the Retro era (French tank rings and bomb\u00e9 rings in particular) because it was a time of immense creativity and women\u2019s empowerment. To me, the jewelry from this period feels like armor, with its strong geometric and architectural motifs and chunky stones. I rarely purchase very old jewelry because I like to WEAR my jewelry, and fragile pieces just don\u2019t work with my active lifestyle. I prefer a more modern aesthetic\u2026pieces that make me feel powerful and fearless when I go out onto the streets of NYC! I\u2019m also big on women\u2019s history, so I love miniature portraits of women and anything having to do with suffrage.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Chelsea<\/p>\n

\"Chelsea<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had a collectors\u2019 mentality: I love the thrill of the hunt, I love to score a bargain, and I love beautiful objects. My Spanish grandmother shopped at the Madrid flea market\u00a0every\u00a0Sunday and had a\u00a0house full of French objets d\u2019art, paintings and ornately carved furniture. My parents filled our house with rustic antiques. Living with these objects made me appreciate their unique beauty. I\u2019m also extremely\u00a0conscious of respecting our planet so I\u2019ve always avoided purchasing new items. Buying secondhand is a win-win, as far as I\u2019m concerned. My love for\u00a0jewelry in particular came from my (American) Nana, who was very elegant and\u00a0always wore an armful of gold bangles\u2026I adored how they jingled! Antique jewelry is so sentimental, so finely made, and most importantly, it doesn\u2019t sit on a shelf:\u00a0it\u2019s wearable and enjoyable and\u00a0you can take it out into the world!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Chelsea<\/p>\n

\"Chelsea<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m like a hunter stalking its prey when I shop: laser-focused and strategic, whether it\u2019s online, at an antique show, in a thrift shop or at auction. I have to\u00a0be, because if you search under\u00a0\u201cdiamond ring\u201d on eBay there are over 2 million listings (luckily, online searching is my superpower!) But the way I find most of my pieces is through relationships I\u2019ve nurtured with dealers all over the world. They know what I like and think of me first when they get something special. My other favorite way of shopping is digging through pounds and pounds of\u00a0\u201cscrap\u201d\u00a0gold in the jewelry district in NYC\u2026I find such treasures!\u00a0I\u2019m super picky about every piece I buy. For decades, I\u2019ve had a mantra that helps me make decisions when shopping: \u201cWhen in doubt, go without.\u201d If my gut doesn\u2019t say \u201cI HAVE TO HAVE THIS, AND I DON\u2019T CARE WHAT IT COSTS,\u201d I pass.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"CharmBracelet\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI am THE WORST when it comes to jewelry display. I travel a lot and when I do, all my jewels go into the bank\u2019s safe deposit box. So\u00a0embarrassingly, I have loads of jewels in ziplocks, stashed away, and often I even forget what I have. I need\u00a0Marie\u00a0Kondo-level help! But I wear my rings every day and enjoy seeing them organized, so no matter what, I have them displayed beautifully, and everyday I enjoy the ritual of marveling over them and choosing which ones to wear.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMy most sentimental piece is my Spanish grandmother\u2019s diamond engagement bracelet from 1934. It\u2019s just my style, and it has an amazing history.\u00a0She came very close to losing the bracelet in the 1940s, when, after the deaths of both her husband and her daughter during the Spanish Civil War, she was forced to take a loan from a family member whose wife insisted that she \u201chold\u201d the bracelet as collateral. My grandmother was furious but had no choice. With the loan she opened a successful clothing boutique in the Palace Hotel in Madrid. The wife of her family member was annoyed when she had to return the bracelet upon repayment of the loan. But she did. It\u2019s now one my two most prized possessions.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Chelsea<\/p>\n

\"Chelsea<\/p>\n

\u201cI love chunky rings, but the piece I wear everyday is my mom\u2019s plain gold wedding band. It\u2019s a metaphor for her: it doesn\u2019t pretend to be anything it\u2019s not. It has a quiet confidence. It\u2019s\u00a0unassuming, but resolute. Wearing it makes me feel close to her but also serves as a constant reminder that the simple things are ultimately what are important in life.<\/em><\/p>\n

My most recent find is a golf-ball-sized dome ring from France that as my friend Janet says, \u201cIt\u2019s almost too big to wear\u2026ALMOST ;)\u201d I remember as a kid, a dealer told me that the older you get, the bigger your jewelry gets. I looked at her giant rings and chunky necklaces and said to myself, \u201cHaha, I\u2019ll never be like her!\u201d And here I am\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

You can follow Elisa and her daughter Ruby over on Instagram \u2014> @chelseagirl.nyc<\/a> \u00a0& \u00a0@talesfromthejunkpile<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n