Las Vegas Antique Jewelry & Watch Show 2010

The Genius Of Alberto Vargas

Alberto Vargas has always been associated with the cutting edge giants who adored the American woman. The Peruvian-born artist began his career in the United States as the official painter for the Ziegfeld Follies from 1919 to 1934. After his Ziegfeld years, Alberto moved to Hollywood where he was employed as an artist by various movie studios until 1940, when he was hired to replace pinup artist George Petty at Esquire magazine. Apart from gracing the pages of Esquire magazine from 1940 until 1947, his flawless watercolor and airbrushed Varga Girls adorned aircrafts, ships, and even uniform jackets of the US servicemen during the World War II era. The late 1950s marked the debut of the “Vargas Girls” in the pages of Playboy magazine. Beginning in 1960 until 1976, Alberto's "Vargas Girls" regularly graced the pages of Playboy as a monthly feature. Both the “Varga” and the “Vargas” girls are included among the most recognizable cultural icons of the 20th century.

One thing is certain, Alberto truly loved the design of an American women!
You can see it in the way he painted the nape of a neck, the flush of a cheek, the sensuous curve of a voluptuous breast. Stand in front of one of Alberto Vargas' paintings of a beautiful woman, such as "Reflection in Mirror," and what you see is a man in love, passionately in love, and trying to use his art to express the depth and delicacy of his feelings. Gaze at the way he always rendered women, so glorified, so idealized, and you cannot help but wonder: Who is this man? Who was the real-life woman That could inspire such eloquent testaments of love and adoration?

I do know that whenever we acquire any of our unique pieces of "wearable art " I'm always trying to envision what each particular piece of jewellery might look like on one of the "Varga girls".  In the next few months as we put this blog together we will from time to time highlight some of our finds as we travel the east coast in search of retro treasures  .. I hope you enjoy the results.
Sincerely,
Daniel Piraino

The Real Vargas One Hundred and Fourteen Years After His Birth, Alberto Vargas Is Still Regarded as "The King of Pin-Up Art."

Vargas was born in Peru in 1896, and travelled to Europe with his family in 1911. His father was a photographer, and Vargas was exposed at an early age to the airbrush as a retouching tool. He studied to be a photographer, and worked in New York as a retoucher for a time, but Florenz Ziegfeld hired him as an illustrator for his Follies in 1917. He scraped by through the depression illustrating for various publications and movie studios. When George Petty left Esquire in 1940, Vargas took over his position with the magazine. Even though this brought much-needed exposure for Vargas' work, the contract with Esquire was extremely unfair. The magazine even trademarked the name Vargas had been working under... "Varga" and wouldn't allow him to use it for any other work. Vargas sued and broke the contract in 1950.

Vargas added the "s" to his name and proceeded to rebuild his career, illustrating playing cards and taking freelance work for True magazine. In 1960, he was hired as an illustrator for Playboy, the venue that made him famous. The "Vargas Girl" represented a high level of perfection in beauty, erotic- but never vulgar. Even when Playboy would have allowed him to depict full frontal nudity, Vargas always kept his models discretely draped. He worked for Playboy until his 90th birthday in 1976, when he retired. Vargas passed away in 1982 at the age of 96.

 Here is just a sampling of the great Alberto Vargas...





VARGAS IN THE 1920s









VARGAS IN THE 1960s

I hope you enjoyed !

Before You Sell Your Old Coins Or Jewelry

Knowledge Is Power - Before You Sell Your Coins or Jewellery - Talk To Us!

Are You Selling Old Jewellery (costume) or U.S. Coins?

Have an old coin collection, horde, or inheritance? Maybe some Costume Jewellery? Want to cash in while prices are high? Contact us today to have an experienced collector appraise, evaluate, or sell your coins, Jewellery or precious metals.

No Collection too large or small

What We Do

Founded in 1995, Daniel Piraino and David Dittler have both appraised and sold hundreds of collections for clients in the Upstate New York area and Florida for over fifteen years. We can appraise, evaluate, or sell your collections.
Unlike most appraisal businesses and coin companies, we will
Drive directly to your door !
Check every single coin/jewellery for rarity, not just for the silver/gold value!!!
Can appraise your collection if you wish.
Give you the option to sell portions of the collection when the metals markets are in your favor, so that you earn the most money possible!
Go over the scope of your collection with you before appraising.
We Can appraise any collection - Antiques- Jewellery - U.S. Coins-large or small.

Contact either Daniel Piraino in Florida- 954-461-4342 or David Dittler in New York - 315-415-0253
Or check out the Pirate Capitalist for more info!

On The Hunt For Vintage Bling

10 Vintage Jewelry Pieces to Collect
Vintage jewelry(jewellery) is high fashion news these days. But there is so much choice and only a few of the pieces are really special. Here is a vintage jewelry dealers guide to the top 10 pieces to acquire now.
Have you seen the latest trend to buy and wear Vintage Jewelry? It seems that everyone is emptying out their grandmothers jewel box or raiding their local thrift store to find a piece. As with most things not all vintage jewelry is born equal - some pieces are better than others. These are easier to wear, more likely to increase in value, be appreciated as a gift or form the basis for a beautiful collection.

So here is my guide to ten of the best pieces of vintage jewelery for you to treasure hunt (in no particular order).

Victorian Silver Brooches

Victorian Silver Brooches come in a wonderful range of shapes and sizes. What is special about these is that they are genuine antique pieces of jewelry and they need not cost a fortune. You can buy a whole range of Victorian sentimental silver brooches from $30 upwards. Buy one a month and you will have a whole collection at the end of the year. It is likely that the value will increase over time as more people realize what a bargain Victorian silver brooches currently are.

Art deco glass Necklaces

Genuine vintage art deco jewelry is hard to come by but id you are lucky you might just find a glass necklace at a reasonable price. Most genuine art deco glass necklaces would have the beads held together with a metal chain. Many of these were made in Murano Italy - Look out for wedding cake beads with their fancy trailed glass patterns.

Cocktail Rings

Cocktail Rings are big and bold. They can be made of costume Jewelry materials or silver or gold set with precious or semi precious stones. A big vintage cocktail ring in gold is going to cost you far less than a new ring would today and have far more impact. You certainly won't catch someone else wearing the same ring. Just compare the costs with those you see on the TV shopping channels.

Clip on earrings

If you can wear clip on earrings these are most definitely a great bargain at the moment. Better than vintage earrings for pierced ears as they are a little more hygienic

Vintage Cuff Links

Who says that Vintage Jewelry has to be for women only? Why not buy that metro man in your life a pair of vintage cuff links to wear to your next ball or black tie affair? I think about the colors - silver would go well with a black suit.

Figural Brooches from the 20th century

These are very cool and my favorite for gift giving. A vintage brooch in the form of a bunch of flowers or an animal would be great for Mom or Granny, any special occasion or just to say 'thank you' to that special someone.

Belt Buckles

Most vintage belt buckles can be attached easily to a ribbon or elastic and be worn today. Try them with you jeans for a real vintage statement. Vintage buckles can be found in all shapes and sizes and dating from the Georgian era right through to the 1970's urban cowboy period!

Silver Charm Bracelets

This is a gift that can keep growing and develop a special sentimental attachment. Buy yourself or a young girl a bracelet with just one charm and add to it with each Birthday,Christmas or Hanukkah. If you can find vintage sterling or 925, well all the better. I can't tell you all the times that I have purchased sterling bracelets for far less then the spot price of silver at various auctions and estate sales!

Stick pins

The stick pin is an antique type of tie or lapel pin. They have a decorative finial which is usually quite small and a long pin to keep them in place. This gives just a glint of color or sparkle to a jacket lapel or a tie . Stick pins can be worn by both men and women, some can be extremely valuable.

1970s silver bangles

Remember these from the 1970s? Now you can pick a genuine vintage 1970s silver bangle from around $40. This will be worn time and time again.