The Dazzling Vintage Kitchen Essential You Should Grab Fast If You See It At The Thrift

Every good second-hander knows that their local thrift store has the potential to be full of treasures, from valuable, popular vintage figurines to regular objects you can turn into simple thrift flips that you can start and finish in one weekend. If you're keeping a list of the labels and categories worth looking out for that might have the most bang for your buck, we've got a new idea to add to it. Silver wine coolers were popular in Italy in the 1900s, and you should keep an eye out for these valuable and classy items on your next thrifting trip — especially if they have a Ricci label on them. 

When shopping in the home goods and decor section at thrift stores and vintage shops, it might be difficult to recognize fine silver. That's because silver is prone to tarnishing, especially sterling silver, which is an alloy that contains other metals like copper which tarnish when exposed to sulfur in the air or in food and beverages. You can tell that real silver is underneath a darker layer by conducting some simple tests. For one, silver won't be magnetic, so if a magnet sticks to it, it's a different type of metal. You can also use a soft, light-colored polishing cloth and see if black residue from tarnish comes onto it — if it does, you have real silver. Finally, silver will have a stamp with a purity number like 925 on it. 

Using the ability to detect if an object is authentic silver, you can check out various wine chillers at your local thrift store. Vintage wine chillers will often have handles on either side, and can sometimes come with a detachable plate that would go beneath the chiller on a table, or they'll have an elongated base that separates the ice basin from the table beneath it. One brand that is particularly of high value is the Ricci label, also known as Ricci D'Argenterie, which has been around for over 150 years. The Ricci company is based in Milan and is "one of the most highly acclaimed silversmiths in the world" thanks to its unique silver composition. 

Ricci wine chillers will have gold tags screwed onto the bottom with the brand's signature. They will also generally be round with vertical striping and handles, and can come with plates to put underneath them. If you find one, congratulations: you've discovered a true gem. These wine chillers sell online for hundreds of dollars of dollars: one recent Etsy listing has a Ricci wine chiller priced at $583. Even if the wine chiller you've found wasn't belonging to the Ricci brand, there's still a good chance that it's worth a solid amount of money. Other silver wine chillers — especially vintage ones — often sell for over $100 on resale sites like eBay. Other labels to look out for include Gorham, which sells for over $200, and Reed and Barton.