Before I start today's post, I want to start with a disclaimer: I am in no way trying to insult makers of button jewelry that harm their buttons, nor trying to sabotage their business. I am simply trying to get the point out about the detrimental recourse of harming buttons for the sake of jewelry! I'm just a bleeding heart for buttons and want to educate the masses of the depletion of value when buttons are damaged!
Antique buttons are like miniature works of art, time capsules of history, beautiful little gems to run your fingers through. As I mentioned yesterday, you wouldn't drill a hole through a Hummel, would you? The same for buttons. Here is an example. Several months ago, I saw a button necklace for sale on the internet. The button was worth about $35 all by itself, judging from the front of the button. The jewelry designer had drilled a hole in the top of the button, passed a bail through it, put it on a chain. This necklace was priced around $50, the description stated that the button was antique which made the piece that much more valuable. The sad thing is that the button is now worthless with the damage....worth only the scrap metal it is made from. At this point, the necklace is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. It is no longer valuable just because it has an antique button on it as the button is now valued at $0, when it once was valued at least $35.
I see it all the time. Bracelets made by cutting the shanks off buttons and gluing the buttons to a bracelets. Those buttons were once worth about $5 a piece, now they are worth nothing. And the $40 price tag? The price does not reflect the value of the buttons, because they are not worth anything anymore. Pity, as there are usually at least 6 small picture buttons on each bracelet. Figure that out at $5 a piece. They are only worth something to the consumer who doesn't know better. Hairpins. Bookmarks. The tragedy goes on....
One important clientele that these people are missing? The Button Collectors. I know..."People actually collect those things?" Believe it or not, but button collectors come in all age ranges, from 8 to 80. I have been collecting collectible buttons for over 10 years. Remember what I said yesterday that these kinds of buttons are not usually found in old button boxes. These buttons are either found on ebay, button shows, individual websites that sell them and auctions. But I will tell you one thing: Button Collectors would be horrified to own a piece of button jewelry where the button was damaged to create the piece. Plain old shirt buttons are different, but collectible buttons, this is where the concern comes in.
Stay tuned tomorrow when I continue this series......and I hope I didn't ruffle too many feathers. No harm was intended....my only goal is education.
(above picture courtesy of www.buttonbuttononie.com, a member of the National Button Society who sells antique and collectible buttons.)
