Warman's Jewelry by Christie Romero (2002, Paperback, Revised)

If you found this review helpful, please click on the link and give it your vote. Thank you. Christie Romero's classic "Warman's Jewelry Identification and Price Guide, 3rd Edition" is one of my favorite jewelry reference books because it effectively gives a broad overview of all types of jewelry from the late 1700s all the way up to the the latter half of the 20th century. Romero is an active jewelry historian, who writes books and articles and often lectures on jewelry of various types and eras. So the content is coming from an expert. This generous soft cover book is a non-technical guide than anyone can read and understand with ease. It packs 272 pages of useful information. In addition to the lovely color photographs that illustrate this book, Romero offers detailed descriptions that include value estimates, dimensions, metal content, close-ups of maker's marks, gem types and more. Her book starts off with a chronological timeline that gives historical overviews, which are helpful in understanding the jewelry examples that follow. Throughout the book you will find reproduction alerts, as well as essays that offer historical context. If you are a beginning collector or interested in expanding your knowlege, this book is beautiful place to begin.

This was the first vintage jewelry book I acquired and I read it over and over and over again. It is excellent for getting a good handle on vintage jewelry designs and styles in both costume and fine jewelry. It includes a lot of information on older pieces that you don't get in many of the other books.

All color pictures are excellent. The history and detail in this book is just wonderful.

If you read my jewelry book reviews you'll see I'm trying to give an indication of how accurate the values expressed in the book are. This book is almost impossible to do that with as there is so much unique and rare items that pieces aren't generally found on ebay. Also, much is focused on fine jewelry and grades of stones can become an important factor.

This book also includes Native American and Mexican jewelry which is often not included many jewelry collecting books.

The author is extremely knowledgable on the subject and it shows.

I'd highly recommend this book for someone who is looking to expand their knowledge on jewelry in general. If you're collecting just mid century rhinestone pieces this book is probably not for you as the information on these pieces is just a very short section of the book. But....if you're looking to expand your knowledge to other eras and designs, this is the book to get.

This book is written by Christie Romero, a highly qualified author, who has an excellent knowledge base of the history of jewelry and jewelry trends in the 18th, 19th and 20th Century. The book is filled with many, many clear, detailed color photos illustrating examples of jewelry from varied periods. I bought the book as a reference book, because I am relatively new and buying and selling jewelry. I especially like the appendices which provide information and examples of hallmarks, as well as a list of 20th century American Costume Jewelry Manufacturers with basic information about years in operation.

If you are serious about collecting? You absolutely must add this book to your library! This book is a collectible item itself. Now that Christie has left us, sadly saying, we will never in my life time, have another writer-expert such as her. I'm happy to have this book in my collection.

This is a beautiful book, full of gorgeous color photos and lots of good information, but the prices are on the high side given the recession that we're in. Christie Romero unfortunately passed away in 2009, at the relatively young age of 63, and took with her a fount of knowledge, but I highly recommend this book for the vast amount of information that she was able to pack into it.