Luxury Living

Air Date: Friday, October 17, 2003

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Antique Jewelry

When you think about buying something over the internet, you may head straight to eBay... hoping to find a bargain. But the internet is also the place to find some luxury items, including antique and very expensive gems. Check it out, in tonight's Luxury Living.

(WSVN) -- Under tight lock and key... are rare, unique and antique gems... some dating back to the 1800's.

But you won't find these extraordinary bobbles at any jewelry store, just over the internet.

Jeweler Fay Cullen says, "We have a different concept of selling jewelry these days and that's on the internet."

That's right, you'll have to w-w-w over to Fay Cullen's place.

The Bay Harbour Island jeweler has been in the gem business for 20 years.

But a couple of years ago, she decided to do business in cyberspace, and now, it's paid off.

"Last year, which really surprises me, we sold over 20 pieces over $10,000 each," she says. "That's not alarming for a jewelry store, but this is a website."

Click onto her site and check out this porcelain pin and earring set dating back to the Victorian era -- you can buy this piece of history for a mere $7,000.

Or try on this 3-and-a-half karat diamond ring, which sells for just $35,000.

Or pin on this 2 karat diamond/2 karat ruby for just $15,000.

"Many of these pieces can be tucked away in a safety deposit box, be saved for a long time, brought out when people are ready to sell," Fay says. "or be worn. A lot of these pieces can be worn to society events."

Fay finds her pieces at estate sales and over the internet.

"'It has 55 karats of diamonds," says Fay, describing this 55.5 karat diamond necklace designed by local jeweler, Scott King.

Believe it or not -- at $700,000 dollars, it's a bargain.

"This piece took over a year to put together," she says. "It's a very very, very beautiful necklace."

"Wow, Channel 7 makeup room never looked this good," says Belkys, trying on a gold bracelet.

Fay dropped into the Newsplex to show me some other beautiful and one-of-a-kind pieces.

"Oh, what else do we have here?" says Belkys. "Oh, this one's pretty too."

"That's a very old one," explains Fay. "That's probably earlier than the turn of last century."

"And this piece is from when?" Belkys asks.

"From the 1920's," responds Fay. "It's an original art deco piece."

"Do they make jewelry like this anymore?"

"No, not like this. No, they don't put the kind of work into it from before."

From this $29,000 pin...to these unique pieces, Fay's website is a luxury jewelry lover's dream come true.

"I would say the people that come to our website definitely have money to spend, they want quality, they want value, they're looking for high end jewelry."