So what does vintage really mean? In terms of jewelry, vintage translates as:
a) Vintage jewelry: Vintage jewelry is often defined as older pieces made after the Retro Modern period of the 1940s and through the 1980s.
b) Vintage reproductions: Vintage reproductions are newly manufactured, vintage-style, or vintage-inspired jewelry pieces. Vintage reproductions have the look of vintage or antique pieces, without the higher price tags older pieces often demand.
And vintage jewelry can be of the following types:
Bakelite jewelry:
Bakelite is a material developed in 1907–1909 by Belgian Dr. Leo Baekeland. The retro appeal of old Bakelite products and labor intensive manufacturing has made them quite collectible in recent years.
Bookchains:
Victorian style made in gold, gold filled and sterling silver, in which each chain link is rectangular, folded to resemble a book. Often elaborately engraved.
Cameos:
Stone cameos of great artistry were made in Greece dating back as far as the 6th century BC. They were very popular in Ancient Rome, and one of the most famous stone cameos from this period is the Gemma Claudia made for the Emperor Claudius. The technique has since enjoyed periodic revivals, notably in the early Renaissance, and again in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Neoclassical revival began in France with Napoleon’s support of the glyptic arts, and even his coronation crown was decorated with cameos.
Celluloid jewelry:
Celluloid jewelry is plastic jewelry made from cellulose, the oldest plastics invented in 1869. It is flammable and can be damaged by moisture.
Doublets:
Composite stone made of two pieces cemented or glued together. It’s one of the many gem fakes in which a thin, flat section of a real gem is pasted atop a thick base of glass or rock crystal.
Filigree jewelry:
Difficult to create and painstakingly finished by hand, filigree jewelry reached the height of its popularity during the Art Deco period of the 1920′s and 1930′s. The romanticism and detail of antique filigree jewelry has made it widely popular up to the present day.
Jet jewelry
Black fossil coal or wood that can be easily carved into jewelry. Some jet is polished and some has an opaque appearance.
Lace pins:
Lace pins are so called because they were frequently used to confine a length of lace at the neckline or at the throat, or sometimes to attach drapery at the shoulder. It is interesting to note that although the term “pin” to mean “brooch” is an American custom, in England these little brooches were always referred to as “pins,” either lace pins or handkerchief pins, probably because their function was similar to that of a dress pin, to hold something in place, and was not merely ornamental.
Micromosaics:
Micromosaics are assemblages of small pieces of enamel, an opaque, vitreous substance which is similar to glass. The Vatican has kept the actual formula a secret for over 200 years. Micro mosaics, which are the very smallest of these, were produced from the late eighteenth to the end of the nineteenth century. The term “micromosaic” was coined by Sir Arthur Gilbert to refer to these mosaics with tiny pieces – sometimes up to 4,000 per square inch.
Mourning vintage jewelry:
Mourning jewelry is often black, made of jet or black glass and metal with a Japanned finish. It is fairly subdued, featuring little ornamentation or details. It was made popular by Queen Victoria after her husband Albert died in 1861. Many widows then took up the tradition of wearing it to mourn the loss of a loved one.
Signed or stamped vintage jewelry:
By law, jewelry items have to be marked with a metal purity hallmark and a trademark of the manufacturer/artist. Mass-produced jewelry and many medallions are made using this process.
All items above are either vintage or vintage reproductions and clicking on any image will redirect you to the product’s page where you can purchase it. I tried to find affordable vintage pieces, as we all know that a girl’s interests can be quite hurtful for her wallet.
My personal favorites are the first vintage necklace, the filigree necklace,the micromosaics and the vintage rings. How about yours?
I really love that pin. I have been looking for a good vintage brooch for ages but haven’t found one I like yet. Sadly there aren’t really ANY vintage shops where I live and I haven’t really ventured much to buying online. But these are some really useful links!