Show Report: The New York City Jewelry & Watch Show
This past week, I attended the NYC Jewelry & Watch Show — but they should have called it the Jewelry and just a little bit of watches show.
In all seriousness, it was nice to attend as it's a different atmosphere than the IWJG show that I’ve spoken about before. There were a lot of local and Tri-state vendors that were exhibiting with all types of vintage jewelry with a huge selection of designs, qualities, and signed pieces (Tiffany, Van Cleef, Cartier).
Working in an auction house before COVID definitely sharpened up my eye a bit when it comes to recognizing signed pieces, designs, and differentiating but evaluating, examining, and authenticating vintage/ antique jewelry is a whole other animal compared to vintage watches. Jewelry has been around MUCH longer than watches, so there are many more categories, sub categories, and even sub-sub categories in the industry.
It’s fascinating to see people even understand the product that they’re looking at, as I was dumbfounded from booth to booth. One can always admire or develop a taste for jewelry but understanding the trade I would say is objectively more difficult than vintage watches. From evaluation to authentication — so many signed pieces like Tiffany and Cartier are counterfeit in the market, and it takes an exceptionally well-trained eye to tell. There were very few young dealers in the room, as we see the jewelry industry is traditionally for older folks — and for good reason.
How many people are into vintage jewelry as a whole, let alone vintage watches? To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed at the jewelry show as I was just passing from booth to booth with nothing particularly surprising to be found. The few watches that were at the show were either marked up for retail or pieces that are generally difficult to move (think aftermarket diamond-set, solid gold bizarre models).
There were still a lot of great pieces to handle and the highlight of the show, of course, was Luxury Baazar. From Roman, his crew, to the incredible inventory that they brought out, they really made the show — at least for me, a watch geek desperate to look at something he likes!
Ironically enough, vintage jewelry is where the money is at when it comes to collectors, dealers, and investors in the space. Of course, the market is different, more illiquid, and volatile at times, but it definitely has my interest at heart as jewelry and watches go hand and hand. Overall, I had an interesting time and it reminded me to keep my eyes and options open. The industry is so much larger than just vintage watches!
Daniel Matatov is, of course, “Danny” of Danny’s Vintage Watches. If you have a pitch for us, reach out through our Contact form or send it to @iamjoshcameron on Instagram.
