Architectural, icy, and impossible to ignore.

This sculptural French ring delivers cool-toned drama straight from the Retro era. A crisp square-cut aquamarine sits beside two sparkling paste stones, all set in rhodium-plated sterling with the French crab hallmark.

With its asymmetry, contrast, and midcentury edge, it feels like something straight off a 1940s fashion sketch. It’s Deco-adjacent but with a little more attitude.

• Ring Size: 6.75 (can be resized within reason by your jeweler—or ours, if you’d like an introduction)
  
• Metal: Rhodium-Plated Sterling Silver
  
• Stones: 1 square-cut aquamarine (~7mm), 3 faceted paste stones
  
• Markings: French crab hallmark
  
• Origin: France, 1940s
  
• Condition: Excellent vintage condition
  

Your piece will arrive in RetroStarr’s signature gift box—ready to gift, wear, or pass down.

Curated by Dana Sednek, GIA-trained founder of RetroStarr, where each jewel is hand selected for its past lives and future attitude.

Built to be worn.

Midcentury jewelry didn't always borrow from architecture so much as start behaving like it. Silver became structure, open space became part of the design, and a brooch could be built from the same vocabulary of curves, voids and soaring forms that architects were exploring at a much larger scale. In jewelry, the building didn't have to stand up. It only had to hold together.

This one barely bothers to behave like a brooch. Three tall silver forms climb to different heights, with deep openings cut between them and two hollow cups appearing where you might expect the pattern to continue. From the front, it's easy to forget that all of this has to resolve into a flat little pin on the back. At 2 1/2 inches tall, it manages to look considerably bigger than the amount of silver involved.

Details:

• Date: Circa 1960s–1970s

• Material: Sterling silver

• Design: Abstract architectural Modernist form

• Maker: Unsigned

•  Dimensions: Approximately 2 1/2 in. long

• Weight: 18.20 g

• Condition: Good vintage condition with surface wear and patina consistent with age. Please see photographs for details.

• Styling Notes: Pin it vertically on a black jacket or substantial knit and let the silhouette read at full scale. It would also be excellent on the lapel of an oversized white shirt where all that silver has some room around it.

Please Note: Jewelry box, chains, styling props, and any additional items shown in photos are for display purposes only unless specifically listed as included.

Your piece will arrive carefully packaged in RetroStarr presentation wrapping, ready for gifting, collecting, or immediate wear.

Curated by Dana Sednek, GIA trained jewelry professional and founder of RetroStarr, where each jewel is hand selected for its past lives and future attitude.

Worth opening.

The watch is easy to miss. Closed, the piece reads as an ornate jeweled bracelet, its paste-set cover giving little indication of what lies beneath. Lift the lid and a tiny dial appears, transforming the bracelet from adornment into timepiece. The reveal feels deliberate, as though checking the hour was intended to be a private act rather than a public display.

Produced in France by Potens Prima, this gold filled watch bracelet conceals a 17-jewel mechanical movement beneath an ornate paste-set cover. The scrolling metalwork and densely set stones create the impression of a jewel first and a timepiece second, allowing the bracelet to stand on its own even when the watch remains unseen. Its substantial scale, richly detailed cover, and hidden dial capture the ingenuity and elegance that made these secret watch bracelets enduring favorites.

Details

• Era: Retro, c. 1935–1945
• Origin: France
• Material: Gold Filled, Stainless Steel Watch Back
• Size: Approximately 2 1/4 inches by 2 inches
• Style: Hidden watch bracelet / cocktail watch bracelet
• Hallmarks: Mode Déposé, Fond Acier Inoxydable; Potens Prima movement
• Condition: Good vintage condition with age-appropriate wear. All stones remain present, though some have darkened over time and no longer reflect light as brightly as others. The exterior presents beautifully, while the interior shows noticeable wear to the gold-filled finish consistent with years of use. Cover opens and closes properly. Watch is currently not running and is offered as-is.

• Styling Notes: Equally compelling as a jewelry object and a conversation piece. Wear as a dramatic cuff-style bracelet and enjoy the hidden watch as an unexpected detail discovered only upon closer inspection.

Please Note: Jewelry box, chains, styling props, and any additional items shown in photos are for display purposes only unless specifically listed as included.

Your piece will arrive carefully packaged in RetroStarr presentation wrapping, ready for gifting, collecting, or immediate wear.

Curated by Dana Sednek, GIA trained jewelry professional and founder of RetroStarr, where each jewel is hand selected for its past lives and future attitude.

Two pictures. Your choice.

By midcentury, even the locket had changed clothes. Gone were the flowers, flourishes and romantic ornament of earlier generations. This one arrived dressed for a new world: graphic, geometric, textured in alternating rhythms of gold. But open it, and the old purpose remains. Two small photographs, carried close.

Made in France and marked Plaqué Or Laminé, Cadence carries a particularly French bit of jewelry history. Or laminé was a quality gold-layer construction, made by mechanically bonding a substantial layer of gold to a base metal rather than depositing the very thin surface layer associated with ordinary electroplating. The result was jewelry made to wear and endure more like gold, which helps explain why the finish on this little locket has survived so beautifully.

Open it and the geometry continues inside, framing two oval spaces for photographs. Both metallic paper photo inserts remain in place.

Details

• Era: Midcentury, stylistically dated c. 1940s–50s
• Origin: France
• Material: Plaqué Or Laminé (French laminated gold)
• Mark: Plaqué Or Laminé
• Measurements: Approx. 7/8 × 3/4 inch
• Interior: Two oval photo compartments with metallic paper inserts
• Condition: Good vintage condition with light surface wear consistent with age and a small shallow ding to the center polished panel, as shown. Gold-laminated finish remains very well preserved. Locket opens and closes securely and retains both metallic paper photo inserts.
• Styling Notes: Small enough to layer. Interesting enough not to disappear.

Please Note: Jewelry box, chains, styling props, and any additional items shown in photos are for display purposes only unless specifically listed as included.

Your piece will arrive carefully packaged in RetroStarr presentation wrapping, ready for gifting, collecting, or immediate wear.

Curated by Dana Sednek, GIA trained jewelry professional and founder of RetroStarr, where each jewel is hand selected for its past lives and future attitude.

The first time you see it, it doesn't quite look real.

The Cadet Chapel belongs to a short list of buildings that architecture people cannot stop talking about. The proportions. The optimism. The audacity of it. More than sixty years after its completion, it still looks like it arrived from somewhere slightly ahead of schedule.

This sterling silver charm captures the unmistakable silhouette of the United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, one of the most celebrated works of American Midcentury Modern architecture. Designed by Walter Netsch of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and completed in 1962, the chapel remains a landmark of architectural optimism, engineering ambition, and sculptural design. Despite its tiny scale, the geometry is instantly recognizable. A miniature monument to one of the most iconic buildings of the modern era.

Details

• Era: Midcentury, c. 1960s–1970s

• Material: Sterling Silver

• Motif: USAF Cadet Chapel

• Size: Approximately 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch

• Hallmarks: Marked Sterling; "Cadet Chapel USAF Academy" on reverse

• Origin: United States

• Style: Architectural charm / souvenir charm

• Condition: Clean vintage condition with light surface wear consistent with age

Please Note: Jewelry box, chains, styling props, and any additional items shown in photos are for display purposes only unless specifically listed as included.

Your piece will arrive carefully packaged in RetroStarr presentation wrapping, ready for gifting, collecting, or immediate wear.

Curated by Dana Sednek, GIA trained jewelry professional and founder of RetroStarr, where each jewel is hand selected for its past lives and future attitude.

Because practicality had already been accounted for.

The smallest luxuries often leave the strongest impression. Caprice delights in details: curling scrolls, a softly puffed center, and a silhouette that transforms a simple pendant into something unmistakably antique. It asks for very little attention and somehow manages to hold onto it anyway.

Originally suspended from a watch chain, Caprice brought ornament to an object already defined by function. The openwork design and gently domed center create a surprising sense of volume despite its petite scale. Sourced in Paris and no larger than a postage stamp, it arrives as proof that the smallest objects are sometimes the hardest to forget.

Details

• Era: Victorian, c. 1900–1910
• Origin: Paris, France
• Material: Gold Filled
• Size: Approximately 1/2 inch x 3/4 inch
• Style: Watch pendant / watch chain accessory pendant
• Hallmarks: None
• Condition: Good antique condition with wear consistent with age and use. A small area of wear to the gold fill is present at the raised center cartouche on one side, visible upon close inspection and shown in photographs. The openwork details remain crisp and well defined, and the pendant retains its original charm and functionality.

• Styling Notes: Small enough for everyday wear yet distinctive enough to anchor a layered story, Caprice pairs beautifully with antique watch chains, fine gold necklaces, and collected charms from different eras.

Please Note: Jewelry box, chains, styling props, and any additional items shown in photos are for display purposes only unless specifically listed as included.

Your piece will arrive carefully packaged in RetroStarr presentation wrapping, ready for gifting, collecting, or immediate wear.

Curated by Dana Sednek, GIA trained jewelry professional and founder of RetroStarr, where each jewel is hand selected for its past lives and future attitude.

Even a placeholder can carry weight.

A sculptural sterling silver bookmark defined by clean line and symbolic form. The stylized bird sits like an emblem at the top, while the elongated silver blade slides decisively between pages. Functional, graphic, and intentional, it turns a simple gesture into a considered one.

Produced in midcentury Mexico, this piece was made by Citlali, a silversmith workshop known for translating ancient Mesoamerican imagery into modern silver design. Executed in solid sterling, the bird motif reads as sign, not decoration. Balanced, purposeful, and designed to be used rather than admired from a distance.

Details

• Era: Midcentury

• Origin: Mexico

• Metal: Sterling silver

• Size: 2 1/4 inches x 11/16 inch

• Style: Sculptural bookmark / desk object

• Hallmarks: Mexico, Citlali, 6P35, 925

• Condition: Clean vintage condition with light surface wear consistent with age.

Please Note
Jewelry box, chains, styling props, and any additional items shown in photos are for display purposes only unless specifically listed as included.

Your piece ships in RetroStarr’s branded packaging with care instructions included.

Curated by Dana Sednek, GIA trained jewelry professional and founder of RetroStarr, where each jewel is hand selected for its past lives and future attitude.

She had opinions.

More than a century later, she still appears ready to share them. Framed beneath crystal and surrounded by a halo of pink stones, she meets your gaze with an expression that reads somewhere between amusement and appraisal. Whoever she was, she understood the power of being remembered on her own terms. The portrait remains, equal parts keepsake and introduction, waiting for the next person willing to carry her story forward.

Six vivid pink stones and a finely worked gold-filled openwork halo elevate the portrait from memento to adornment. The mother-of-pearl backing catches the light beneath the crystal, giving the miniature an unexpected glow. She crossed more than a century to arrive here from Paris, carrying her identity intact and her story largely to herself.

Details

• Era: Victorian, c. 1890–1910
• Origin: Paris, France

• Material: Gold Filled, Mother of Pearl
• Stones: Six pink open-back stones

• Size: Approximately 1 1/4 inches in diameter
• Style: Portrait miniature pendant
• Hallmarks: DS
• Condition: Good antique condition with age-appropriate wear. Portrait remains clear beneath the rock crystal cover. Mother-of-pearl backing retains a lovely luminosity. Pink stones are intact and well matched. Surface wear consistent with age is present upon close inspection.

• Styling Notes: Wear Colette on a simple antique chain and let her do the talking, or layer her among lockets and charms as the undeniable focal point of a collected, storied neck stack.

Please Note: Jewelry box, chains, styling props, and any additional items shown in photos are for display purposes only unless specifically listed as included.

Your piece will arrive carefully packaged in RetroStarr presentation wrapping, ready for gifting, collecting, or immediate wear.

Curated by Dana Sednek, GIA trained jewelry professional and founder of RetroStarr, where each jewel is hand selected for its past lives and future attitude.

Heat, held at the center.

Everything else forced to orbit. A red point of pressure with gold radiating like an argument you cannot interrupt. Pearls keep it civilized. The rest of it does not.

Crafted in 10K gold, this postwar French brooch-pendant features a radiant starburst form set with seed pearls and a synthetic ruby at its core. The construction reflects late 1940s to early 1950s French design, balancing optimism and control through bold geometry and restrained detail. Designed to be worn as either a brooch or pendant, the reverse reveals clean, era-correct mechanics that support both modes with intention.

Details

• Era: Postwar French, circa late 1940s–early 1950s

• Origin: France

• Metal: 10K gold

• Gemstones: Seed pearls, synthetic ruby (tested)

• Size: Approximately 1 1/2 inches

• Weight: 6.19 grams

• Style: Convertible brooch-pendant

• Hallmarks: French eel import stamp

• Condition: Clean vintage condition with light surface wear consistent with age

Chain shown for styling purposes only and is not included. Your piece ships in RetroStarr’s branded packaging with care instructions included.

Curated by Dana Sednek, GIA trained jewelry professional and founder of RetroStarr, where each jewel is hand selected for its past lives and future attitude.

Some women preferred their drama distilled.

By the 1970s, jewelry had started moving toward cleaner lines and sharper decisions. Color appeared more strategically. Gold became less decorative and more structural. Pieces like this sat perfectly within that shift. Graphic enough to hold attention, restrained enough to wear constantly, and designed with the kind of proportion that only works when every element is doing its job properly.

Crafted in 14k gold and richly colored carnelian, this vintage pendant carries a distinctly modernist sensibility. The elongated geometric silhouette gives it a sculptural presence that layers beautifully with chains or settles naturally into everyday wear. Warm, graphic, and confidently composed.

Details

• Era: c. 1970s
• Materials: Carnelian mounted in acid-tested 14K gold. The removable jump ring acid tests 10K and appears to be a later replacement. The fixed suspension loop shows evidence of an older professional repair.
• Hallmarks: Unmarked
• Size: Approximately 3/4 in x 3/8 in
• Weight: 2.87 grams
• Style Notes: Especially effective as the single line of warmth in an otherwise monochromatic outfit
• Condition: Light surface wear consistent with age; carnelian remains well polished with crisp faceting and no visible chips or cracks. Under magnification, the fixed suspension loop shows evidence of an older repair, and the removable jump ring is a later 10K replacement. Both are secure and fully functional.

Please Note: Jewelry box, chains, styling props, and any additional items shown in photos are for display purposes only unless specifically listed as included.

Your piece will arrive carefully packaged in RetroStarr signature wrapping, ready for gifting or keeping entirely for yourself.

Curated by Dana Sednek, GIA trained jewelry professional and founder of RetroStarr, where each jewel is hand selected for its past lives and future attitude.

The Victorians rarely traveled alone.

By the turn of the 20th century, photographs were still formal occasions. People dressed carefully, sat still, chose their best angle, and then carried those selected versions of one another around for decades beneath rock crystal and silver frames. Portrait lockets like this weren’t casual objects. They were deliberate decisions about who deserved permanent proximity.

This antique sterling silver photo locket pendant features dual beveled rock crystal windows containing two surviving gentleman’s portraits, both remarkably intact beneath their original covers. Sourced in France, the thick crystal gives the photographs an unusual depth and clarity in person, while the softly darkened silver frame and oval silhouette retain the formal restraint typical of the period. Most antique lockets no longer contain their original photographs, which makes this example feel especially complete.

Details

• Era: Late Victorian to Early Edwardian, c. 1890s–1910s
• Material: Sterling Silver & Rock Crystal
• Hallmarks: None
• Size: Approx. 1.2 inches long x 1 inch across
• Origin: Sourced in France
• Interior: Retains two original gentleman’s portraits beneath beveled rock crystal covers
• Style Notes: Especially compelling worn slightly longer where the crystal catches light and the portraits reveal themselves gradually
• Condition: Very good antique condition with light surface wear and softly darkened silver patina throughout. Rock crystal remains intact on both sides with surviving original photographs securely in place.

Please Note: Jewelry box, chains, styling props, and any additional items shown in photos are for display purposes only unless specifically listed as included.

Your piece will arrive carefully packaged in RetroStarr signature wrapping, ready for gifting or keeping entirely for yourself.

Curated by Dana Sednek, GIA trained jewelry professional and founder of RetroStarr, where each jewel is hand selected for its past lives and future attitude.

Because sometimes your jewelry needs to make the first move.

This vintage cocktail ring stacks the drama three tiers high. Featuring nine vivid pink sapphires (likely lab-grown) and ten glittering single-cut diamonds, it builds upward in a sculptural dome, all set in cool 14K white gold.

Made in the Retro Revival era of the 1960s–70s, this power ring captures everything we love about midcentury excess—bold sparkle, unapologetic glamour, and serious heirloom energy.

• Ring Size: 6 (can be resized within reason by your jeweler—or ours)
  

• Metal: 14K White Gold (stamped)
  

• Stones: 9 pink sapphires (likely lab-grown, untested), 10 single-cut diamonds (~0.25–0.30ctw) 

• Markings: 14K KLL
  

• Origin: USA, 1960s–70s
  

• Condition: Excellent vintage condition with minimal wear
  

• Weight: 5.50g
  

Your piece will arrive in RetroStarr’s signature gift box—ready to gift, wear, or pass down.

Curated by Dana Sednek, GIA-trained founder of RetroStarr, where each jewel is hand selected for its past lives and future attitude.