Estate Jewelry on QVC

By Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA, Senior Editor -- JCK Online, 6/1/2001 2:00:00 AM

In an event billed as "highly innovative and educational," antique and period jewelry expert and educator Joyce Jonas teamed up on April 7 with the QVC Shopping Network to present "Estate Style, the Joyce Jonas Collection." Jonas is director of the Antique & Period Jewelry and Gemstone Conference.

"I did what I do," says Jonas. "I was the historian." Jonas, who is more familiar to consumers as one of the appraisers on PBS's Antiques Road Show, did some appraisals for the audience. The idea behind the hour-long segment was that the jewelry-buying public needs to know about estate jewelry, so who better to teach them than the teacher?

"What surprised me was 'The Joyce Jonas Collection,' " says Jonas. (QVC produced estate-style jewelry for sale during the hour-long program, most of it chosen by Jonas.) "The same manufacturer who produces the jewelry for Joan Rivers manufactured this line," explains Jonas, who was pleased with the results. "QVC has a new buyer, and they want to take QVC to a new level."

Jonas is hopeful that the show and collection will spark consumers' interest in true period jewelry: "If they understand it in the costume [version], they'll go to the fine pieces."

Some people in the industry will "take shots," says Jonas, but she views her QVC experience this way: "It's giving me a chance to educate the people who are out there buying jewelry, and they love it!"

The Joyce Jonas Collection is, in Jonas's words, "elegant, tasteful, and classy." The selection comprises about 10 pieces, four or five of which sold out. "QVC is an extraordinary organization," says Jonas, who adds, "where they can, they are upscaling."

QVC says it wants to play an important role in increasing the public's awareness of heirloom antique and period jewelry, educating consumers and encouraging them to invest in such jewelry—which also may benefit the industry as a whole.