How it started
It started, as these things often do, with a single piece that stopped us in our tracks — an Art Deco marcasite brooch sitting in a cardboard box at a New England estate auction, completely overlooked, priced at almost nothing. We bought it, researched it, fell completely in love with it, and couldn't stop thinking about all the other pieces like it that were out there waiting to be found.
That was the beginning of Heritage House Finds. We started attending estate auctions regularly — not just locally, but across the country — and slowly built a collection of pieces that genuinely excited us. Not fast fashion. Not reproductions. Real vintage jewelry with real history: the kind of piece that came out of someone's jewelry box, wore to a formal dance in 1942, or was given as a wedding gift to someone's great-grandmother.
How we source
Every piece in our collection comes from a vetted source: estate auctions, estate sales run by licensed estate sale companies, or established vintage dealers. We don't buy from unknown sellers or sources we can't verify. That matters because it gives us — and you — confidence in what we have.
Before anything goes in the shop, we examine it carefully: we check for hallmarks, test metals when appropriate, research makers' marks, and consult reference books and auction records to date and describe each piece accurately. If we're not sure about something, we say so. Honesty in condition grading is non-negotiable for us.
What we look for
We focus on pieces from the great jewelry eras: Victorian (1837–1901), Edwardian (1901–1910), Art Nouveau (1890–1910), Art Deco (1920s–1930s), Retro (1940s), and Mid-Century (1950s–1960s). Each era has its own distinct aesthetic — the naturalistic curves of Art Nouveau, the geometric boldness of Art Deco, the sentimental symbolism of the Victorians — and we love helping people understand what they're looking at and why it was made the way it was.
We are drawn especially to signed pieces (Monet, Coro, Miriam Haskell and others), pieces with exceptional craftsmanship regardless of materials, and pieces with interesting hallmarks that tell a story. We look for wearability, not just collectibility — these are meant to be enjoyed, not stored away.
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