The Ebony Cat & The Million-Dollar Tree Necklace

History of the Kirkwood Collection

The Kirkwood Collection consists of items of jewelry from the past, brought forward in time, and available again in the 21st century. There are two parts to this intriguing collection.

The first part is antique estate jewelry spanning from 1820 – 2000. My great-grandmother Katharine Goodwin Pride, wife of horseman Walter D. Pride, is the guardian of this collection. A copy of her painting appears in the corner of every item in this antique/estate collection.

The second part of our Kirkwood Collection is composed of actual retired items of jewelry that at various times in our Cross history 25, 50, 75 years ago, have been moved from active inventory to Cross Archival reserves waiting for someday, when the moment seemed right, to make it available to Cross fans again. Connie Cross is the hostess for this archival collection of jewelry.

Family Legacy

As in all families, any present generation has two immediate family legacies. One side of my family is Cross, the jewelry people, the other side of my family is Pride, the horse people – with stables and sleighs, buckboards and wagons, two stables, one in Westbrook, the other at Scarborough Beach with a summer seasonal inn back in the 1800s.

One-of-a-Kind

Virtually everything in the Cross Kirkwood Collection is a one of a kind, one item, one moment, one chance to acquire. Obviously, if three people want a particular piece, only one can have it, and once any one item is sold, it is gone forever. Constance Cross, daughter of our founder William Cross, and part owner of Cross Jewelers from 1931-1942, is guardian of this portion of our collection. Her black and white photograph appears in the corner of any item that has a Cross Archival Collection origin.

Prices

Prices are sometimes ancient, often reflective of the pieces period and era of creation, while keeping in mind the realities of contemporary gold markets. The result, often pieces that are shown and priced represent great values. On items over $500 we issue a typed appraisal showing current values. One reality check regarding insurance, though we may place a replacement value, most items simply can never be replaced at any price.

Browse to Your Heart’s Content

Feel free to browse anything in our Kirkwood Collection. Anything you may choose comes with our complete 30-day return privileges – your chance in the comfort of your home to study, inspect, try, and consider any item in this collection with the opportunity to return anything, no questions asked. Shipping is always free anywhere USA.

Happy shopping – Ralph H. Pride, 4th generation of the Cross Jewelry Family, and 4th generation of the Pride horse people.

Cross’s Kirkwood Jewelry Collection

When my great-grandfather William opened Cross Jewelry in 1908, horses were still trotting up and down the cobblestone streets of Portland, Maine. My other great-grandfather, Walter D. Pride, still had his livery stables in Westbrook, Maine and his horse stables and a seasonal summer inn, the Kirkwood, at Scarborough Beach, Maine. By 1915 Walter had given in to Henry Ford’s assembly line and the efficiency and practicality of Henry’s new Model-T automobile and closed his stables in Westbrook and Scarborough and in 1918 sold his seasonal summer inn on Scarborough beach.

I grew up on a farm on a dirt road in the country. This painting reminds me of the farm. I was born in 1949, just 34 years after Walter closed his stables. The farm was less than 2 miles from Walter’s stables. Our barns had horse stalls and haylofts. Thirty-four years is just a blink of an eye in human time. So much can change in a short time. Time moves swiftly, as new ideas arise pushing out the old over the years, as eras come to a close and styles change and progress is made.

Keeping Things Fresh

One of our practices every year at Cross, to tidy up and keep our collection fresh, was to put a few pieces of fine jewelry away in an archival collection. Many of these pieces go back 25, 50, 75 years. Recently we sent emails of a few of these treasures and were surprised to find new homes for them within just a few hours of posting. Looking over these almost forgotten archival items and following our test emails it was clear we had a treasure trove of what might be called mint condition antique jewelry.

We will begin unveiling a few dozen of our historic antique-estate and archival jewelry treasures from time to time in a new section of our website called “The Kirkwood Archival Jewelry Collection” these items are often no longer made and no longer available anywhere in the world with prices reflecting the time and era of creation. This is not a sale, but simply jewelry at a truly good value and showing pieces that are not likely ever to be available again.

The Two Hostesses

We’re posting both antique-estate and Cross archival pieces of jewelry on our Kirkwood last chance, last opportunity portion of our website in honor of the horseman, my great grandfather, Walter D. Pride, his stables and Inn that he ran. Walter’s wife, Katherine Goodwin Pride, is the hostess of the antique-estate portion of our Kirkwood Collection. Her painting appears next to each piece of antique-estate jewelry. Our founder William Cross and his daughter Connie Cross are on the Cross side of the Kirkwood ledger. Connie Cross’s black and white photo appears next to all of the Cross archival jewelry pieces…jewelry, that as time went by, often was the last one of a series, the final piece that for whatever reason hadn’t found a home. Connie Cross is the hostess of these archival pieces of jewelry.

These Cross archival pieces are like estate items that have never been worn, pieces that have been protected, preserved, and brought forward in time to present to you today. Study this Kirkwood portion of our website carefully. Everything is priced very reasonably reflecting the era, the design, the gems, and gold content. Consider these soon, time waits for no one. Everything in the Kirkwood Collection comes with our unconditional guarantee of satisfaction with full return privileges for thirty days from date of purchase.

The Lure of the 7-Mile Beach

Lacking in hard evidence – I’m speculating here, imagining, I’m traveling back 125 years to a beach I know well, let’s say this is Water D. Pride less than a mile from his Kirkwood Inn and stables on Scarborough Beach. Ferry Beach was just across from Pine Point and the 7-mile long Old Orchard Beach. It was called Ferry Beach because to cross the 300 feet of ocean water saved a five-mile detour on a trip up or down the coast. A 7-mile beach was a good long stretch of clear roadway for horseback riders and wagons. I imagine that Walter or one of his staff would meet the ferry on summer days with horses and carriages to offer transportation going north or south. Walter’s Kirkwood Inn was a convenient stopover spot to spend the night before heading up to Portland or down the coast to Old Orchard Beach, Biddeford Pool, or Ogunquit. Stables, overnight accommodations and good food were an important part of 19th century travel.

50 Cents for a Horse

I spent Sunday night with my great-grandfather Pride’s horse and buggy records and ledgers; studying the years 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, who rented, where they went, how much was charged, .50¢ for a horse about town to $6.00 for two horses and a wagon out of town, overnight perhaps to the beach. The names of the horses in my great-grandfather’s Westbrook sables: Jim, Dolly, Ned, Nancy, Prince, Jip, Milo, Kit, Mascot, Maude, Judge, Pacer. Studying the journals, a year’s worth of horse and buggy rentals was, $2,500 to $3,300. Our family had old black and white photographs of the stables in Westbrook, Maine. The photos have since been lost. My brother Craig was a painter among other talents. These are three paintings he did from old photographs. We’ve all forgotten how complicated transportation was to get from Point A to Point B. Today it’s simply a key in the pocket to start the car. We think nothing of a 5-, 10-, 20-mile trip to anywhere. Traveling at 35, 40 50 miles per hours versus daily feeding and watering of horses, harnessing up the team and moving at 5 miles per hours or lightning fast of 10 miles per hour.