Vintage Jewellery Basics

An introduction to buying vintage jewellery, I originally wrote this piece for my website shop customers over at www.antiquesavenue.co.uk  to help the novice buyer choose which pieces of vintage jewellery to buy.

Vintage Jewellery is fun to wear, to collect and to give as a gift. Vintage Jewellery is stylish and currently high fashion being seen on all the most famous people and the catwalks. It can also be a great investment if you buy the right piece and treat it well. Every wondered which piece of vintage jewellery to buy? How to tell a real piece from a piece of costume Jewellery? How can I be sure it is a genuine vintage piece ? What is vintage and what is antique? What names of manufacturers and designers would I look out for? How do you care for vintage jewellery.

What is Jewellery?

Jewellery is for personal adornment worn either on the body (such as earrings) , on clothing ( such as brooches) or in the hair. Jewellery can be made from precious metals and gemstones, semi precious metals and gemstones right through man made materials such as plastics and glass and also from natural materials such as wood, coral, pearls and amber. Whatever the material that a piece of jewellery is made of it is the ways that the materials are put together that counts. The style, craftsmanship, design , quality and colour all add up to the make a piece desirable or not.

What is the difference between fine jewellery and vintage costume Jewellery ?

Fine Jewellery is made from Precious stones and precious metals ( gold, silver, Platinum, diamonds, Rubies, Sapphires and Emeralds). Costume jewellery is made from non precious materials and also semi-precious stones such as quartz.

What types of vintage Jewellery are available today?

You can find just about any piece of jewellery you can imagine as a vintage piece if you hunt hard enough. Vintage rings, Vintage brooches, vintage necklaces, vintage bracelets, earrings, chains, charms, lockets and much more. 

When does a piece of jewellery become vintage?

Generally a piece of jewellery can be regarded as vintage once it is about 20 to 30 years old. Before that it is too new, too current and would just be regarded as second hand or pre-owned. Pieces from the 1980s are now collectable as vintage. Certainly jewellery from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s is vintage as is cocktail jewellery from the 1940s and art deco jewellery from the 1920s and 1930s. Once a piece is getting to be 100 years old it is generally no longer vintage but it has obtained the loft status of Antique. This means that all Edwardian Jewellery is now antique and I tend to group jewellery dating from the and of the Edwardian era to 1920s into the antique group as the style is almost the same as that of Edwardian Jewellery.

When piece of vintage Jewellery should I buy?

There are several reasons to buy vintage jewellery: To wear, to give as a gift, to collect or as an investment. The piece to buy depends upon your reason for buying it: To wear – Buy a piece which will complement the colours of your outfits or a really special piece to become your ” signature “. A big bold vintage Brooch would make a great signature piece of Jewellery.

Vintage Jewellery as a gift: I would tend to avoid rings here unless you know the ring size of the person you are buying for. A Vintage necklace, locket or pendant would be a good choice and I always recommend brooches.

Vintage Jewellery to collect: Why not start a themed collection? Art deco or Victorian perhaps. Earrings of one colour – red or blue diamante. Perhaps you would like to collect flower brooches, Victorian lockets or 1950s animal jewellery.

Vintage Jewellery as an investment: This is the most difficult area to advise on. I can only suggest the same advice for Vintage Jewellery as is given for all antiques. Find a piece that your really really love. Make sure it is in great condition and look after it well. If you really love it the chances are that others will too and that piece of vintage jewellery will become more sought after in time. As with all investments of this type the value could go down but you have had the pleasure of ownership in the meantime.

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Looking to buy some vintage jewellery for yourself or as a gift?  Follow the links at the side of this page to my website shop and if you need any help then do get in touch. My contact details are easy to find on my shop.