"Unsigned Beauties"

     One of the first things I do when checking out a piece of vintage jewelry is turn the piece over and look at the back. This is where a maker's stamp, country of origin and precious metal content marks can be found. If the item is stamped DA Norway 925 it's of considerably more value than a similar piece with no identifying marks.

                                                                             

David Anderson Norway Sterling Silver Enameled Clip On

     Entire books are written for the purpose of helping you identify and value your vintage jewelry, and many of these line my book shelf. With this in mind, you can imagine my delight at finding a book titled, "Unsigned Beauties of Costume Jewelry", written by Marcia "Sparkles" Brown! A book filled with photos of beautiful pieces of jewelry that, for whatever reason, were unsigned by their maker. 

     It turns out that many pieces of jewelry are so close in design to certain marked pieces that they can be attributed to the same maker. As I examined my own collection, it was easy to see this was true. Some makers use the same details in their design and are easily identifiable, marked or not.

     Which made me think about our Maker... and what identifies us with Him...

     

     Though we bear no symbol declaring us followers of Christ, there are characteristics that identify us with Him. Those who belong to Jesus will wear love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control as a mark on their life. 

     Unsigned, perhaps, but identifiable as His!

"And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven."             1 Corinthians 15:49