Exclusive Finds: Claudine Faifer: Estate Jewelry & Silver Expert

Meet Claudine Faifer an estate jewelry, watch and sterling silver specialist with a professional career spanning over 50 years, including an impressive 30 years career at Gray and Sons Jewelers, the premier destination for selling, buying, repairing and consigning luxury watches and estate jewelry. 

Claudine is a senior sales specialist, appraiser and jewelry expert handling  showroom sales and online auctions specializing in high brands jewelry like Cartier, Tiffany, Van Cleef and Arpels, vintage and antique jewelry and sterling silver.

Claudine’s passion for great jewelry pieces began in 1969 when, as a young bride, her husband gifted her with her first two Cartier pieces: a Love bracelet, designed by Aldo Cipullo, and a Trinity rolling ring. It was love at first sight.

Early Beginnings

Claudine was intrigued and wanted to know more about her two beautiful, unusual presents. Little did she know that the Cartier presents would start her long love story with jewelry, more particularly with Cartier jewelry. The Trinity ring, created in 1924, and the Love bracelet, created in 1969, are still as popular today as the day they were first introduced.

Claudine was born in Paris, France.  Her journey in the jewelry industry started when she was only 20 years old. She and her husband opened a jewelry store in Paris in 1974. 

Since Claudine loved antique and vintage  jewelry, she started designing her own pieces inspired by antique jewelry.  Her “Agatha”  line of jewelry was a mix of costume jewelry and sterling silver. She also created a seasonal jewelry catalog to closely follow the emerging “Pret a Porter'' fashion market. Their jewelry store became so successful that by 1998, it had ballooned to over 150 stores worldwide.

Moving to America

However, after 12 years of marriage, Claudine and her husband separated, and she moved to America. 

In America, Claudine initially lived and worked in Chicago, then New York city.

In New-York, she managed the bridal jewelry shop for Fortunoff on Fifth Avenue. 

In the mid 1980s , sterling silver became extremely popular so Claudine dove into the sterling silver market. At the time she worked for Razel Halpern, who owned Ares Rare, a famous antique jewelry store on Madison Avenue.

This was where Claudine learned most of what she knew about antique jewelry. With a vast library at her disposal, she read books to acquire more knowledge of antique jewelry and sterling silver including sterling silver flatware, hollowware and more. It was also there that she sold a Victorian Etruscan revival necklace to Jack Nicholson who gifted it to his then girlfriend actor Angelica Houston, and a magnificent Faberge diamond tiara which could also be worn as a necklace. Soon more celebrities followed to seek Claudine’s expertise. 

After a few years in New York, Claudine moved to Florida, where she worked at Mayors jewelers. 

In the early 1990s, Claudine met Keith Gray, President and founder of Gray & Sons Jewelers, a company selling luxury pre-owned luxury jewelry and watches, diamonds, and sterling silver pieces. Gray and Sons was ahead of their competitors, they printed a luxury catalog mailed monthly to thousands of their customers and started to feature their merchandise on the very new then internet. Quickly she decided to join the Gray and sons Team, and the rest is history. 

Claudine loves jewelry as she knows there is a whole history to learn about antique and vintage pieces, at a time when most pieces were not mass-produced but crafted individually by hand by master Artisan. When presented with an estate jewelry piece, Claudine does extensive research to learn everything about the item. 

Claudine over the years, had attended various Seminars, from pearls grading, colored gemstones, diamonds, sterling silver manufacturers and patterns history. 

Claudine, to this day, is still with Gray & Sons as a senior sales and buyer specialist. She fluently speaks English, French, and Spanish.