Purchase Jewelry at Museums

Gift Shop Sources for Unique, Hand Crafted, Artisan Adornment

May 17, 2008

Museum gift shops are a fantastic source of both historical replicated jewelry pieces and contemporary couture jewelry.

The next time one visits a favorite local museum or one that is enountered while traveling, check out the museum gift shop. Museum gift shops often carry unique, artisan quality jewelry from both local artists and artists located throughout the world.

Museum gift shops can also be a source of jewelry that is inspired by historic female figures such as Marie Antoinette. A replica of pair of earrings worn in a portrait of Antoinette by Louise-Elisabeth Vigée-Le-Brun and a few other pieces are available for purchase at the Château de Versailles gift shop in France.

In addition to historical relicated pieces, contemporary couture jewelry is also found at many large art museums.

Tour of Popular USA Museum Gift Shops

Live in or anticipate a visit to Chicago, IL? Check out the Museum of Contemporary Art's gift shop. Available for sale in the gift shop is a totally cool zipper necklace designed by van Nieuwenborg and Wegman. Lariet style, it's available in gold and silver.

Also consider MoMA, New York. A visit to the gift shop shows a gamut of jewelry selections from a playful, color-blocked Andy Warhol watch for less than $100 to Andrea Valentini's moldable DNA earrings.

At the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art one can acquire matte totally handcrafted sterling silver jewelry by Swiss jewelry artists Meral and Halil Sartekin for Kelim. Looking for a little color? California based artist Mark Poulin fuses sterling silver and kiln-fired enamel. The end results are exuberant reversible necklaces and bracelets. Selections available contemporaneously are in the blue family of hues.

Ex Ovo - Popular Favorite at Many Museum Gift Shops

Walk into any museum gift shop in a large metropolitan area and odds are good that a selection of Ex Ovo jewelry is featured. That's because the Ex Ovo design line is exemplary artisan jewelry. Additionally, the jewelry collector receives real value in the cost versus quality comparison. The jewelry incorporates materials such as cotton, leather, rubber, sterling silver and semi-precious gemstones.

Katrin Zimmerman is the designer of Ex Ovo. Zimmerman is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and is a member of the prestigious Council of Fashion Designers of America.

Zimmermann's jewelry is also available at many cutting edge brick and mortar shops located in major USA cities. Katrin's fabulous designs are worn by Zaha Hadid, Arthur Cohen, Keith Richards and his dogs, Eartha Kitt, Liv Tyler, Noel Gallagher, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, Kate Moss, Lucie de la Falaise, Halle Berry, Nile Rodgers, Courtney Love, Rita Moreno, Britney Spears, and many others.

All jewelry images on this page are courtesy of Katrin Zimmermann and are available for purchase both brick-and-mortar and online.

The copyright of the article Purchase Jewelry at Museums in Jewelry is owned by Maire Loughran. Permission to republish Purchase Jewelry at Museums in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.