Does knowing a patent number help sell on ebay?

You would think so. At least I'd think so! Today I did a quick search of items in the Vintage Jewelry category that had the word "patent" in the title and took a look at how helpful the information about the patent was in the seller's listing.

It was pretty discouraging. While the sellers of the 15 items that I found, believed that the fact that there was a patent number on their piece, was important enough to highlight it in the title of their auction, most of them went on to leave out any useful info in their listing. So, I think a real missed opportunity!

Some of the non/mis-information I found was:

• saying there was a patent, and describing that the piece then dates to a certain time frame, or by a certain designer, but then not giving the patent number or showing it at all on the piece.
  
• listing the incorrect patent number. Okay, I know they are hard to read, sometimes near impossible! But if you are selling a piece of jewelry and the patent number you list is for a dress, it isn't very helpful.
  
• Using a utility patent number to "date" a piece. For example saying that a piece with an earring clip mechanism patent from 1945, dates the earrings themselves to 1945. Utility patents really can't be used that way, since often, things like earring mechanisms were used again and again over the years. About all you can establish is that your piece is no earlier than the date of the mechanism (utility) patent.

All in all, of the 15 listed, I'd say 3 or 4 had accurate info, mostly because they simply stated what they saw on the piece and didn't actually try and make fabulous and strange connections with the info. At best, a missed opportunity..at worst, providing misleading and possibly fraudulent info.

Dating items by patents - legit?

Some jewelry books have theorized that when you find the patent date of a jewelry design, that it is a good indicator of when the item was made and sold. Styles and designs changed often and so it makes sense that finding a patent would be a good indicator of when the piece was sold.

I've been wondering just how well that theory holds out and so have started some research comparing patent dates and advertisement dates. Here is one example, a Mazer pin, which really only brings up more questions than answers but give some clues, and has me hankering for more info!

In this case, there is about a year between when the patent was granted and when the pin shows up in the ad. What I don't know, is whether the pin had been sold all through 1941 and this is just the first ad that I happened to find, or was it not produced and sold until almost a year later?

This is a face pin from Mazer as shown in patent D123910. The patent was applied for in September of 1940 and granted in December 1940.

And here is the pin as shown in an ad from November 1941

I am sure there are those would say that dating a piece to the 1940-1941 time frame is pretty darn good! And I agree. But what if the companies patented an item years after it was produced? Or what if, once patented, it was sold across many years? (a more likely scenario in my opinion). I am intrigued to see what patterns I can find and will report more as discover more!

Bye Bye B.A. Ballou?

Seen in the news at the National Jeweler Network website, B.A. Ballou and Co, Inc of Providence Rhode Island will be up for sale on April 29. Apparently another victim of the current economy, B.A. Ballou recently was put into receivership and will be sold on April 29.

A 140-year-old company, B.A. Ballou makes jewelry and jewelry findings. A quick search found patents that span the life of the company, including one as far back as 1880 for earring findings.

The good news, is that the article notes that there is at least one prospective purchaser.