Erie Basin

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Owner Russell Whitmore’s antiques store infuses small-town discoveries with a New York state of mind. The corner storefront suggests an old home upstate, with its clapboard façade, handmade screen door, and black-painted pine floor. Inside, the cases and walls gleam with American and European jewelry, household items, and objets d’art. Whitmore makes weekly trips to estate sales in the Tristate area or sources up the Hudson Valley, so there’s a constant stream of new merchandise. Your eye might be caught by delicate Victorian mother-of-pearl pocket knives and bone teaspoons, a vulcanite watch chain, or 1920s onyx rings. Much of the collection dates from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but some unique modern jewelry crops up, too. The contemporary pieces cleverly play off the old. A buckle-motif titanium ring by Paul DeBlassie IV, for instance, echoes the Victorian-era buckle trend, while laser-cut leather necklaces by Shaoo have intricate curves reminiscent of vintage carved ivory. Together, they make a seamless circuit of historical reference and individuality. — Jennifer Paull

Take a close look at the combination desk and display case made by Whitmore. One end is supported by a zoomorphic, griffin-like leg covered in tree bark and n