Jewellery hunters know there's money to be made finding and buying vintage baubles at rummage sales, estate auctions and church bazaars. But you really have to know your stuff if you're hunting unsigned Sherman.
Researching Sherman Jewellery Gustave Sherman was a Canadian fashion pioneer. The brilliant jewellery designer manufactured only high quality ‘costume jewelry’ pieces in Montreal for thirty four years from 1947 to 1981.
Gustave Sherman's genius is manifest in the beautiful pages Sherman Jewellery, The Masterpiece Collection by Sandra Caldwell and Evelyn Yallen. This book is a must have for Canadian jewellery collectors as it references so much of Sherman’s work in easy to find sections based on colour and design. More importantly, Sandra Caldwell and Evelyn Yallen are expert collectors and therefore skilled at summarizing the subtleties of Sherman; every sentence makes readers more aware of the realities of the jewellery design business and the materials available in the post war Canadian fashion marketplace. 
Sherman - A Brief History Montreal was the center of fashion and set the standard across Canada. The city was particularly influential in jewelry design. In 1947 Sherman chose to set up his factory in Outremont, home to wealthy French Canadians and Jews, while most of his contemporaries were located along Main or St Lawrence Street. This might have added to his exclusivity and helped reinforce a notion of high quality and individuality. Sherman sold to both large and small jewellery stores all across Canada; he was equally represented at Birks and Peoples’ on Bloor St in Toronto, as he was at Mackenzie’s in Lethbridge, Alberta. His work was at one time or another available in all of Canada’s largest retailers, including Eaton’s, Simpsons and The Hudson Bay Company. Buying and reading this book will make you an expert in Sherman jewellery.
Table of Contents 
Why We Collect Sherman:
A Brief History
Prices and pricing
Sherman Signed vs Unsigned:
The Great Debate
Clear Jewelry Aurora Borealis and Topaz Jewelry
Black, grey and hematite jewelry
Blue Jewelry
Green Jewelry
Red and pink jewelry
Purple and alexandrite jewelry
Unusual colours
Beads
Art glass, gold tone and men’s jewellery
Figurals and centennials
Multiples
Last but not least
Glimpses of the Post War Costume Jewellery Industry On page nine of the bookthere’s a fascinating 1958 black and white newspaper advertisement from Breslauer & Warren, 434 Portage Ave (is that Winnipeg?) displaying a Sherman necklace and matching earrings available for $10, next to diamond and gold cross priced at $25. This gives readers some idea of how Sherman’s costume jewelry was fashionable, even though it wasn’t composed of precious materials. The book details market trends and Canadian competitors like Artistic, Continental and Keyes. It also references American firms like Boucher, Coro, and Trifari. Wisdom is shared in short sentences like, ’Much as Boucher is known for his use of baguette stones, Sherman loved marquise stones and used them liberally. It is one of the features that makes a piece of Sherman jewellery so identifiable.’
Regarding Prices and Pricing Sherman jewelry On page 11 the authors speak about something I’ve long suspected – there is no price guide for this stuff, because the price changes in every online auction. The actually value of these things is really rather random – it all depends on who is buying them, and the price at which you are willing to part with them.
Regarding the Great Debate: How much Sherman jewelry is unsigned? On page 12 and 13 there are no pictures. That anomaly alone should immediately signal readers that something important is written here. On these two pages Sandra and Evelyn have laid out their position on the great debate – they get down to business and justify why they believe that “there is a significant amount of unsigned Sherman” waiting to be found and purchased in yard sales and church rummage sales all across Canada. 1. Sherman is hard to fake, and there would be no profit in such complicated replications. 2. Original owners attest to buying both signed and unsigned pieces in same box. 3. Identical designs exist that are both signed and unsigned. 4. Sherman was often sold with cards and tags in gift boxes that served as a signature. Let’s remember after all, it was just costume jewellery…
Regarding Aurora Borealis and Topaz Jewelry, Aurora, which is a technique for coating stones in 1955 by Swarovski, was a novel treatment that gave interesting depth to designs by allowing the same stone to take on a different appearance and colour. the authors state that they believe, based on years of experience collecting Sherman, that there is more Aurora Borealis and Topaz jewelry in existence than any other make
Regarding Green Jewelry According to Sandra and Evelyn, green jewelry is the least popular colour of all costume jewelry and so accordingly there are fewer green Sherman designs – does this make green jewelry more expensive today? Not necessarily, it depends on the beauty and modern functionality and modern desirability more . But of particular interest is the wide rigid cuff bracelet in an uncommon pale, celadon green with the usual cabochon glass stones The book shows rare pieces and uncommon designs using unfoiled, reverse set stones. Whenever possible it shows sets where everything matches, and time and time again the necklace is signed but the earrings are not signed or the bracelet is shown in the box with cardboard tag signature etc. This book is like having The Masterpiece Collection. Sandra Caldwell and Evelyn Yallen also manage a popular website http://www.intotemptation.com for jewelry hunters of all descriptions.
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