Asheville museum showcases nation’s only permanent costume jewelry collection

A glass case of brooches, cuffs, necklaces, earrings and pins made from silver, glass and feathers is giving downtown Asheville a new stop that is part fashion history, part art history and part public education. The Museum of Costume Jewelry, at 60 Haywood St. across from Pack Memorial Library, opened March 1 with what it says is the nation’s first permanent museum devoted to costume jewelry.

Inside, 31 exhibits trace the form from Art Nouveau and Art Deco designs through Hollywood glamour, postwar scarcity, Lucite fashions of the 1970s and contemporary pieces. The museum says its collection includes about 750 pieces, with names tied to fashion history including Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli, Miriam Haskell, Christian Dior and Joseff of Hollywood.

Founder Sharon Ryback turned years of collecting and studying costume jewelry into a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that now sits in the middle of Asheville’s downtown arts corridor. The museum’s mission is to collect, preserve, research and exhibit 20th-century and contemporary costume jewelry designers through exhibits, publications, lectures, oral and visual history, and educational programming for adults and children.

Ryback’s path to the museum began far from Haywood Street. She and her husband raised three children in St. Louis, where she worked for years as an advanced practice psychiatric nurse. Her fascination with costume jewelry deepened after a vacation stop at a high-end shop showed her how designers could use inexpensive materials to create bold work that fine jewelry could not easily match. That accessibility remains part of the museum’s appeal: costume jewelry helped bring high-fashion style to ordinary people in the 20th century.

The museum is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is closed Wednesdays. Its stated plans include a dedicated learning center, guest lectures by jewelry historians and contemporary designers, outreach for people who cannot visit in person, rotating special exhibits and partnerships with schools, colleges and universities.

Its location helps place the new institution firmly in Asheville’s downtown mix. Pack Memorial Library, directly across the street, has served as Buncombe County’s main library branch downtown since 1911, with the current 56,000-square-foot building opening in 1978 and renovated in 2012. The Downtown Asheville Arts District says the area includes more than 20 galleries, studios and museums within a mile radius of historic downtown.

That density matters in a city where tourism remains a major economic driver. Downtown Asheville drew 595,000 out-of-market visitors in October 2025, according to the Asheville Downtown Association, and a niche museum with a rare collection adds another reason for visitors to walk Haywood Street, linger downtown and see Asheville as a place where offbeat attractions are part of the city’s identity.