Curiosities

What a pleasure and blessing to have discovered this precious boutique owned by two friendly sisters, Karrie and Tina! My mom and I had the best day ever enjoying brunch and strolling through the shops in West Portal today. I wish I had discovered this treasure trove earlier during our stroll. You can tell the sisters put in a lot of tlc into picking their carefully-​selected pieces. I could honestly stay here many, many hours looking at the plethora of unique finds from jewelry to handbags and lots of curios as well. I purchased a GORGEOUS art-​deco KJL vintage necklace which I will most definitely treasure. Karrie even cleaned it up for me beautifully-​best-​in-​class service. My mom and I enjoyed our time here immensely. Definitely looking forward to our next visit, hopefully soon! Wish I could give this place 10 stars! I really hope they are here to stay! Blessings, Yan

Carrie and Tina are highly knowledgeable and fair. Their passion for art objects is palpable from the moment one enters the store. Lots of stores have gold and silver, but how many sell antique Venetian fancy wedding cake beads in mint condition? And how many will sell them for less than they’re worth? Yes kids, if you know your art, you can actually get some amazing bargains. It is true, I went to the store to sell some antiques I didn’t want. They gave me a very fair price for them. But what’s funny is instead of walking out of the store with a few hundred bucks, I came out with ivory chopsticks, a cute fox finger puppet for a little person I know… and the fancy beads. The beads are usually just not for sale, online or in real life. When they are, they are ridiculously expensive at $ 20 to $ 50 a bead. I got a whole strand of fancy wedding cake beads for $ 88. 23 beads were 14 mm, and 5 were 9 mm. I could turn around and sell them for a profit right now, but these are some of the most beautiful wound glass Venetian beads I’ve ever handled. These are the ones with gold wound into the glass and are painted with lampwork glass. Carrie knows more about fine art than at least two of the other antiques dealers on West Portal combined.
If you are ignorant of art, this is a great store to educate one’s self. The objects are selected for beauty first. If you are the sort of person like that Cinnamon 1 star review jerk, you will quickly lose patience with the store because you will need to go by knowledge – not by gold weight, These are objects of art and that makes evaluating them a knowledge intensive activity. People who expect others to give away expertise for nothing are bound to exhaust the patience of even the most generous spirited person.
Personally, I found Carrie and Tina to be professional, yet generous with their time and knowledge. I’ve been to shops where the offers for my precious items has been offensively low. I’ve also been to shops where the price for an item was marked up as soon as the merchant could tell I wanted it. Those beads! If only you knew! But that’s the thing. I had to read a dozen books on Venetian glass before I was able to know that they were offering me a steal. If you are going by ebay or the internet when valuing art objects, this shop might be too advanced for you. But if you’re a person who believes in personal relationships with your antiques dealers and you know your art, you might walk out of this place with art worth more than the dollar amount you paid for it. I know I did. I even told them that I knew for a fact that those beads have been priced as high as $ 50 EACH, but they still sold me the strand for the listed price. That’s integrity right there. So am I going to believe some rando named Cinnamon who calls older women ‘gals’ and who talks about herself rather than the antiques, or the guy who just went through explaining in detail the objects involved in his transaction? It offends me that someone so proudly ignorant can just give a shop like this 1 star and not be called to account for her flippant, sloppy review. Carrie and Tina treated me great. That mustn’t be underestimated either.

This shop is run by 2 very personable sisters who are professional, know their stock, and have very good taste. The shop is ready for you to spend plenty of time looking at all kinds of interesting things. There are a huge variety of treasures to peruse, and the ladies are perfectly willing to furnish all kinds of information regarding all of it. It is a wonderful place to find unique gifts, and possibly even a treasure for yourself.

Very cute store owned by two lovely sisters. Got a beautiful used Coach leather bag here complete with all the associated paperwork for a very reasonable price. They have a very nice collection of old and new. So refreshing to be so welcomed into a shop and they were not bothered at all at my request to see numerous items in the case. No pressure sales which is the opposite of my recent experience on Valencia street! I will definitely come back here again!

This is one of my favorite stores to visit in West Portal. I love the combination of old and new. I have found the owner and the other gals in the store to be very helpful and friendly. It has always been easy to find something in my price range.

A mix of old and new. But it’s confusing which is which by the way they display. Two gals were working when I went in and both were attitude-​nal, which is ok, I’m not shopping to make friends (although I’ve got a very chummy relationship with many WePo merchants)
When one deigned to speak to me it was something to do with their new things and I said very politely that I do not buy stuff made China which (as it appeared to me) their new stuff is.
OMG The attitude-​o-​meter of both them went through the roof and the one pretty much told me that I’d be hard pressed to find anything new that’s not made in China. Well toots, I’d say that 98% of what’s in my home or closet is American or European made or vintage.
The vintage stuff is decent. The new made in China stuff is tacky. A shame. West Portal is desperate for good stores. This one ain’t it.. ..

This store completely lives up to its name — full of a wide range of fascinating items. I never know what I will discover there, which is half the fun. I enjoy that there are both high– and low-​end items, all of which are well chosen. Repeat trips are practically a necessity! Clearly, these ladies have a knack for the beautiful and the unique. I have gotten quality costume jewelry, as well as delightful and distinctive antique pieces, ranging from a large wooden Dopey the Dwarf «statue» to magnificent peacock salt & pepper shakers on a tray to a golden poodle on an upholstered, tasseled pillow! Both sisters who run the shop are engaging, knowledgeable, and a complete pleasure to spend time with. (not to mention very low key — no high pressure crap from them.) I RECOMMEND CURIOSITIES HIGHLY.

Curiosities is an adorable shop run by two sisters that are absolutely lovely and very knowledgeable. There are a variety of items to choose from. If you are looking for that special gift or for a personal treasure, this is the place to go. I was there for the first time yesterday, and can’t wait to go back for another adventure. It doesn’t get any better than this! Go and visit this fabulous shop!

This is an off shoot of a long standing Antique Cooperative which split in to two stores. I prefer the wider selection of the larger branch (across the street), but praise anybody who has the gumption to open a store.
The items are more consumer oriented, and are tasteful, and West Portal should be happy to have a new boutique (instead of yet another eatery).
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Regarding the one star review posted on this Unilocal page by someone earlier, I wanted to side with the store. Many stores have No Return policies, especially with one of a kind items like antiques. To have a customer slam a store with a one star review on Unilocal over that seems small and petty.

This is a great store if you are looking for gifts for friends who are difficult to buy for. Lots to chose from and a great selection of small antiques and curios. We love Curiosities and a great addition to West Portal.

Adorable new store in West Portal with lots of very reasonably priced, very pretty baubles.