NORWAY – The Norway Historical Society will honor the Western Maine heritage regarding precious gemstones and minerals at its meeting today by hosting two of the area’s most avid students and collectors of antique and estate jewelry.

Sisters Julieanne and Alayne Reed grew up in Mexico and, after high school, earned degrees from the Portland School of Art. After that, however, each went separate ways in their personal and professional lives.

Today, Julieanne resides in Mexico and Alayne flies the snow-bird route between Fort Myers, Fla., and Paris.

Throughout their lives each has developed a passion for learning and teaching about fine antique jewelry. They describe themselves as “treasure hunters” who are fascinated by the design and construction of older pieces of jewelry, and they love to follow the clues to discover the age, provenance and possible subjective value of each item.

At the society’s meeting, the sisters will display select examples of antique jewelry from their own collections and describe some of the finer points of how to recognize, appreciate and evaluate such works. They will also devote part of the session to an “antique road show” type interaction, focusing on examples brought in by those in the audience.

The sisters emphasize that they are not professional appraisers, but they are experienced enthusiasts who have bought and sold many pieces of antique and estate jewelry over the years.

The public is invited. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the society’s museum, 471 Main St. Refreshments will be served.