What you’ll learn in this episode:   How Melinda created the definitive guide to the Napier Company. What made Napier stand out from other costume jewelry manufacturers of the 20th century. Why Chinese and Russian collectors are becoming increasingly interested in American costume jewelry. How the dawn of costume jewelry changed the way we accessorize. Why the craftsmanship of vintage costume jewelry is often as good as fine jewelry. Why being part of a community can be the most rewarding part of collecting.   About Melinda Lewis   Jewelry historian Melinda Lewis spent 11 years researching the history of a single American jewelry manufacturer —The Napier Co. Determined to bring the first book about this company to the public, she interviewed over fifty former employees from around the country spanning multiple generations. Those interviewed included the great-grandson of William Rettenmeyer, the designer who started in 1891; to designers who worked for Napier from 1941 to the close of the plant; as well as executive management, including the former CEO, Ron Meoni; and traveling salesmen, whose careers were no less than 30-plus years with the company.   After publishing her book, Lewis and her husband have spent the last year curating an extraordinary collection of vintage jewelry from around the country for her customers with The Jewelry Stylist and Vintage Jewelry Collect.  Photos available on TheJewelryJourney.com Additional Resources: FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/thenapierbook/ THE NAPIER BOOK: https://napierbook.com  FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/thejewelrystylist2 INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/thejewelrystylist/ THE JEWELRY STYLIST: https://thejewelrystylist.com VINTAGE JEWELRY COLLECT:  https://vintagejewelrycollect.com CJCI : http://cjci.co  This forwards to https://www.costumejewelrycollectors.com/   Transcript:   Some collectors don’t give costume jewelry a fair shake, but for jewelry historian Melinda Lewis, vintage costume jewelry has only brought her happiness. She spent over a decade researching The Napier Company, an influential costume jewelry manufacturer, and created a community of fellow costume lovers along the way. She joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about the process of researching and writing her book, “The Napier Co.: Defining 20th Century American Costume Jewelry”; what costume jewelry is trending and where the hot markets are; and why the joy of jewelry often lies in connecting with others. Read the episode transcript here.    Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is the first part of a two-part episode. Please make sure you subscribe so you can hear part two as soon as it’s released later this week.    Today, we are talking with Melinda Lewis, the author of the definitive work on Napier Company jewelry, “The Napier Co.: Defining 20th Century American Costume Jewelry.” She’s also one of the founders of Costume Jewelry Collectors International. If you look at their website, CJCI.co, you’ll be able to find all you want to know about costume jewelry. Melinda is passionate about costume jewelry, which we might consider a pejorative term, but once you take a look at this book and the range of jewelry that was produced and the manufacturing techniques that were pioneered, you’ll never think about costume jewelry in quite the same way. We’ll hear about her jewelry journey today. Melinda, welcome to the program.   Melinda: Thank you for having me, Sharon. It’s my pleasure.   Sharon: So glad to have you. Tell us about your jewelry journey. How did you get into this?   Melinda: I was interested in costume jewelry as a teen by playing with and holding my grandmother’s costume jewelry, but it wasn’t until my late 30s, early 40s, that I really became interested. I went to an estate sale and bought a couple of sets, one being Hobé. I went home to begin my research and became completely fascinated by it. I stumbled upon an email list called Jewelcollect,