December 3, 2023A small bridge across the Delaware River connects the towns of New Hope, Pennsylvania, and Lambertville, New Jersey. The former is a top destination in Pennsylvania’s scenic Bucks County. The latter, meanwhile, is more of a hidden treasure, which makes it an apt setting for OakGem, a top purveyor of antique, vintage and estate jewelry and a hidden treasure in its own right.
In addition to the Lambertville shop, which opened two years ago, OakGem also a has Palm Beach location. The stores — whose inventories are “curated to fit the tastes and buying trends of each location,” says OakGem chief operating officer Steven Chernoff — serve as brick-and-mortar complements to the firm’s online business.
The jewels showcased on OakGem’s 1stDibs’ storefront align with both sites’ customer profiles. “In Lambertville,” says Chernoff, “we tend to see more eclectic-vintage-focused consumers,” who might, for instance, be seeking a piece like this 1960s Tiffany & Co. diamond brooch. “Our Palm Beach clientele,” he continues, “are usually shopping for more colorful bright and pieces,” such as this pair of Seaman Schepps Bubble Earrings.
OakGem was founded in 1983 by Vadim Krivitsky, who now serves as its president. Originally specializing in silver hollowware and flatware, the business has evolved into a top source for signed jewelry by such iconic American jewelers as Seaman Schepps and Tiffany & Co. It also carries some new pieces by Los Angeles–based designer Spinelli Kilcollin.
Clients tend to be seasoned collectors of vintage pieces or young professionals looking for a deal on modern signed jewels by Bulgari or Roberto Coin.
“We specialize in signed jewelry from the nineteen fifties to the present day,” says Chernoff. “We love all jewelry but are partial to the nineteen seventies and all of the experimental and funky jewels that came from that era — for example, anything by Donald Claflin for Tiffany. We are always on the lookout for seventies classics by this designer.”
Perhaps the best-represented American designer in OakGem’s 1stDibs inventory is David Webb. More than 90 pieces by Webb are currently on offer, with quite a few of the designer’s iconic animal bracelets among them. This style debuted in 1957, and jewelry historians peg its inspiration to a children’s book, The Big Book of Wild Animals (originally published in 1954). Boasting a clientele at the height of his popularity that included luminaries like Elizabeth Taylor, legendary Vogue editor Diana Vreeland and prominent members of the social register, Webb was a keen observer of the aesthetic stimuli in the world around him. He spent a great deal of time studying exhibits at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and absorbing the design codes of antiquity. You can detect such influences in jewels crafted from hammered gold, like these cufflinks. Graphic geometric pieces incorporating enamel, rock crystal or beautifully carved gems are also a signature.
“Our most admired recent acquisition is the David Webb Twin Lion bracelet,” says Chernoff. “It showcases the genius of David Webb jewelry design. I think that the animal bracelets have been so alluring throughout the decades because they tap into something primal within our spirit. Also, the craftsmanship is unparalleled.”
Beyond Webb, what are discerning collectors sure to find — and snatch up quickly — when they shop at OakGem?
“Although we’ve always carried pieces from jewelry houses like Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier, as of late, Bulgari has been on fire. The demand for their vintage pieces is at an all-time high. Think chunky, bold and gold. Specifically, the demand for Bulgari’s Monete collection, which debuted in the nineteen sixties, is unprecedented.”
Below, highlights from OakGem’s current 1stDibs inventory, with comments from Chernoff. Our advice? Do not sleep on that Gucci bracelet!
