Archive for Costume Jewellery
Abalone Shell, peacock colours for costume jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsAbalone shell is a most colourful form of mother of pearl which has become very fashionable in recent years for use in costume jewellery as its colours are much stronger than mother of pearl from other sources.
Abalone shell for use in jewellery come in a range of iridescent pearlescent colours varying from a silver white through pink and reddish tones. The most popular colours are in Iris or peacock shades of blue, green and purple as show here set into this fob.
Abalone Fob
Much of the Abalone shell used today comes from New Zealand where it is know as Paua shell. Abalones are also found in Australia, California, South Africa and the Channel Islands.Care of Abalone Jewellery
If possible just lightly rub with a piece of lint free cloth. The Abalone will be set into another material and you may need to take special care depending on the material it is set into. A damp cloth can be used where necessary. Do not dip Abalone into jewellery cleaner or silver dip. Shell should never be cleaned in an ultrasonic jewellery cleaning machine.
Vintage Jewellery, the best gift this Christmas
Posted by: | CommentsVintage Jewellery is THE gift to be giving this Christmas. High fashion, decorative, durable, collectable and if we are all lucky it just might increase in price, what could be a better present? There are super pieces available to suit every one from the youngest baby to oldest Granny. You can buy lovely pieces for all your friends and neighbours if you shop carefully as vintage jewellery can be bough from just a few pounds. Vintage Jewellery is an ideal gift for men too. One of the lovely things about vintage jewellery is that it is more likely to be unique than a piece of jewellery bought new and so you will need to think about hunting out your presents now as most sellers only ever have one of each piece of each available and cant easily get more the same….
Pearl Necklace
Which types of antique and vintage jewellery are suitable as gifts?
I recommend that if you are buying vintage jewellery as a gift that you look at pieces which will fit with several outfits and will remain in fashion for some years to come. Brooches will fit all. You could also buy a pendant or a charm without worrying to much about the size. A necklace will normally fit most ladies but be careful not to buy one too short for a large lady ( this also applies to bracelets). It is probably best only to buy a ring is you know the ring size of the wearer or at least be prepared to have the ring re-sized (this also applies to Gents). Thinking of buying earrings? Then check if you need earrings for pierced ears or if clip ons are more suitable.
Here are my suggestions for that Vintage Jewellery gift this year:
Vintage Jewellery for baby: Something for the future. How about something made of silver or gold that is likely to go up in value over the comming years? There are some real bargains about in vintage silver brooches. If you get lucky (for a girl)you could find a Victorian brooch with babies name on. And for a baby boy, How about an antique silver Fob? A nice fob can be attached to a key ring when he grows up or used for its original purpose on Albert watch chain.
Vintage jewellery for Children: For a young girl how about starting a charm bracelet? You could just give a starter bracelet, a single charm or if she is really lucky a silver or gold charm bracelet with lots of charms already attached. Young boys are probably the most difficult to buy a gift of vintage jewellery for, I have been thinking about this and think that a vintage silver accessory such as a Victorian silver pencil might suit?
Vintage jewellery for Teenagers: For your fashion conscious teenage girl a string of vintage glass beads . These could be in her favourite colour. Vintage jewellery is really THE thing to be seen in this year so she will be the envy of all her friends. Teenage boys seem to want money, Do you think that would extend to a vintage silver ingot from the 1970s?
vintage brooch
Vintage Jewellery for Ladies: Easy, there is so much to choose from. I often recommend that a brooch is the ideal gift of vintage jewellery and a lady can never have too many. The lovely thing about vintage brooches is that you can find one to suit all budgets and tastes. Does the lady like a traditional style or modern? You can find a real Victorian brooch from about £20 or spend several hundreds of pounds if you prefer. Think what colour she likes to wear, costume jewellery brooches are available in all the colours of the rainbow and more. Perhaps she has a favourite type of animal? Well you can find brooches in the shape of most, cat brooches, horse brooches, dog brooches and bird brooches are quite popular.
Vintage Jewellery for Gents: So much more to choose from that you would have imagined. Cuff links, Tie pins, lapel pins and Albert watch chains. Some gents link to wear rings , an earring or a chain round their neck. Why should us ladies have all the fun, vintage jewellery is for Gents too.
Gold, Silver or Vintage Costume Jewellery this Christmas?
Gold is very expensive this year in fact the prices have never been higher, excellent if you have deep pockets but what about the rest of us? Vintage Silver Jewellery is much less costly and just as likely to rise in value as gold is in the current market. It is durable like gold and can be worn by most people without the fear of allergy. Costume jewellery can be a budget alternative but only if you avoid the big designer names, some vintage costume jewellery can fetch more than the equivalent would made of silver by an unknown maker.
www.Antiquesavenue.co.uk is currently featuring vintage jewellery suitable for Christmas presents and there are lots more to be added to the shop over the comming weeks so please do check back soon. Tomorrow I will take a look in more detail at a few individual pieces of jewellery which would make a special gift.
Vintage costume jewellery – can you help identify this necklace?
Posted by: | CommentsThis necklace belongs to Jan a reader of AntiquesAvenue blog. She is looking for help in identifying the maker of this piece of vintage costume jewellery. I have no idea and it is such a stylish piece that I thought you might like to see it and maybe you can help.
The necklace is made of silver toned metal and is thought to date from the 1940s. Jan says “On the clasp at the back it looks like H H and inside the square clasp is another funny little mark like a long arrow with bits coming from it. ”
Please do leave a comment here if you have any information .
Vintage costume jewellery part 6, The 1950s and diamante
Posted by: | CommentsVintage costume jewellery history part 6 1950s and diamante
As life returned to normal after the second world war design changed and the 1950s again brought new styles and materials and space age jewellery. Much of the style and fashion of the 1950s was influenced by the Festival of Britain which took place in1951 and was intended to be ” a tonic for the nation” following the second world war. Over 10,000,000 tickets were purchased during the six months of the exhibition which shows how popular it was. Many of the exhibits showed radical new design and space age influence, this spread into all areas of design including costume jewellery. War time rationing and restrictions were lifted and once again crystal diamante from Europe ( Austria) became available to Costume Jewellers as did the base metals for setting these into.
Who were the famous Costume Jewellery designers of the 1950s?
Christian Dior, Miriam Haskell, Henry Schriner. Stangley Hagley and of course Coco Chanel. These designers were producing high quality jewellery which did not necessarily try and imitate the real thing – they were made to follow the clothing fashions of the day. Most of the designer and big names in costume jewellery in the 1950s were from the USA and most of the production was done there too. This is probably why many of the best pieces of 1950s vintage costume jewellery are to be found int hte USA today rather than in the UK. Costume Jewellery by Trifari was worn by Americas first lady Mamie Eisenhower
What style of costume jewellery was popular in the 1950s?
Figural novelty brooches set with diamante and enameled. The ballet dancer remained a popular image and animals such as dogs and cats were given large eye and a cute whimsy appearance. The 1950s saw Cats, Poodles and Cowboys, Birds in flight , artists palates and items from teh cocktail bar decorating brooches, earrings , belts, necklaces, bracelets and all other types of jewellery.
dog brooches
Costume Jewellery innovations of the 1950s.
As with every era in the History of costume Jewellery, the 1950s saw the introduction of techniques and materials which were not available in previous times. Perhaps the most notable 1950s introduction was the Aurora Borelis stone which was produced by Swarovski with design aid from Christian Dior. The Aurora Borealis stone ( often shortened to AB) has an iridescent finish which changes colour tone due to a metallic coating on the glass. These come in all colours, blue/ green, red/orange and clear/pear perhaps being the most common.
1950s costume Jewellery to buy now for the future:
1950s diamante necklace
I believe that 1950s prom style necklaces, earrings, brooches and bracelets are very undervalued at the moment. These aer made of silver toned metal and normally set with clear diamante. If you are lucky enough to discover a 1950s diamante piece with coloured stones these are probably even better. These pieces of jewellery can currently be purchased from just a few pounds and are becoming very popular as bridal and party wear nowadays.. Look for the following features:
- are all the stones prong set rather than glued in?
- are all the stones present and bright and clear?
- look at the design of the pieces, the more intricate the design the better and single strand of diamante may be quite pretty but is not as desirable as a more complex piece.
Do you have any pictures of real 1950s costume jewellery, do send them to me and I will add them here.
Vintage Costume Jewellery History, the 1940s
Posted by: | CommentsVintage Costume Jewellery History , part 5 of AntiquesAvenues guide: The 1940s.
The early part of the 1940s was dominated by the second World War ( 1939-1945). This meant that the materials available to produce Costume Jewellery were limited during this time . Metals were reserved for the war effort and crystal diamante or rhinestones could not be imported from Austria . Just as the raw materials available were limited due to the war so was the effort which could be put into the manufacture of jewellery. Making of new jewellery is a luxury which largely has to be done without at such times. This meant that there was largely a suspension of the production of all kinds of jewellery until 1945 in the UK and Europe.
The USA however was quite different during the early 1940s as they did not enter the war until later. In the USA they still could not obtain high quality crystal stones and some metals were limited but costume jewellery production continued with the use of different materials. Some non-precious materials (including those of natural origin) were cheap and abundant and innovative designers started to use wood, leather, shells, plastics, fur and pottery to create fresh designs.
vintage brooch 1940s
The range of materials available to the makers of costume jewellery during the 1940s may have been limited but that did not stop changes in style. The art deco style of the 1920s and 1930s still had an influence on the style of the 1940s but in the 1940s bold costume jewellery was the in thing for evening wear . The cocktail party was THE way to entertain at this time and hence the jewellery made to be worn at these parties became know as cocktail jewellery. Cocktail jewellery is big and showy, designed to be noticed. The lines are softer than the strict geometrical ones of art deco, move feminine and curvy . Figural shapes such as animals, clowns, scarecrows and ballerinas were popular as were bows and knots. Fabric folded to give an illusion of movement as well as scrolls and pleats. 1940s jewellery is also know as “Retro” or “Retro Modern” Style.
1940s ballet brooch
What types of costume jewellery were worn during the 1940s? Bracelets of all types and especially those with watches on. Matching sets of jewellery ( known as Parures, from the French word for adornment) were popular as they add high glamour with earrings, necklaces, brooches, rings and bracelets all matching.
Colours were bright to match the boldness of the shapes of 1940s costume jewellery . Gold tone and Gemstone colours – Emerald green, Ruby red , Diamond white and Sapphire blue.
The Style icons of the 1940s were movie stars think Greta Garbo. Many of the Duchess of Windsors famous jewels were made during the 1940s with the big cat and flamingo brooches being of special note. The most notable designers of the 1940s are Christian Dior, Boucher, Coro, Mazer and Eisenberg all for costume Jewellery.
The next part of this mini History of Vintage costume jewellery takes a look at the 1950s and the space age era. Do you have any nice example of vintage jewellery from the 1940s or 1950s? If so do send me a pici in ,jpg format and I will add it here.
Vintage Jewellery News, 29 July
Posted by: | CommentsThe Vintage Jewellery on AntiquesAvenue has had a bit of a makeover. Vintage Costume Jewellery has been moved into its own area with special sections for vintage costume brooches and vintage costume necklaces ( and pendants and lockets). I will be moving all remaining vintage costume jewellery items into the new section soon.
I’ve been very busy adding fresh vintage jewellery to the site with some lovely vintage glass bead necklaces, gold charms and charm bracelets and a rather wonderful jade and gold bracelet you can see here.
jade bracelet
A few more cameo brooches as I know they are always popular and sell out quickly.
Coming next week; A couple of genuine vintage silver charm bracelets and a few charms in gold and silver. A very special antique gold charm bracelet with watch keys and pencils attached as charms. Also some wonderful 1930s / 1940s vitnage costume brooches and a nicely hallmarked Victorian silver Albert watch chain.
Do come and visit antiquesavenue vintage jewellery shop soon
Anne
Art Deco Costume Jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsArt Deco Costume Jewellery, part 4 of AntiquesAvenue’s guide to Costume Jewellery History.
In the 1920s and 193os Costume Jewellery was epitomised by the bold colours design and new materials which followed from the difficult times of the first world war.
The 1920’s saw a revolution in design, fashions changed dramatically after the first world war. Women had become far more independent, they had worked during the war and wanted clothing and fashion which supported their new lifestyle rather than keeping them in the past. As fashions in clothing changed so did fashions in costume jewellery, the style of the jewellery needed to match the style of the clothes. Shorter hair ( the bob) needed longer earrings. Short sleeves allowed bangles and bracelets to be seen. The flapper necklace which is very long went well with the straight dresses and dropped hemlines.
1920s shapes were angular, cubic, geometric and colours were bold shades of red, black, white, green and blue. Mixed in with this were style trends such as the Egyptian revival which followed the finding of King Tutankamens tomb in 1922 -scarabs, pyramids, palm trees were all popular – look at this original 1920s charm to see how the colours and angles of art deco mixed with Egyptian style.
art deco pyramid charm
Coco Chanel was possible The main designer of the 1920s – she added faux pearl necklaces by the yard to her designer outfits. Other costume jewellery designers started up in business during the 1920s include Miriam Haskell ( New York) and Monet
Materials from 1920s costume jewellery include glass, brass, plastics and faux pearls,
The 1930s.
Massive technological and economic change during the 1920s led to an explosion of costume jewellery in the 1930s both in terms of the quantities available to be purchased, the design, manufacturing methods and materials used. As usual the costume jewellery introduced also followed the dress fashions of the day – the dress clip is a 1930s invention. These can be worn as a brooch or unclipped and worn either side of a square necklace ( more pictures of how this works at end of this blog entry):
dress clip
Brooches and bracelets were worn more widely in the 1930s . Brooches were often figural in shape ( flowers or animals) and studded with diamante ( also known as Rhinestones in the USA). Fashion as in previous eras was still influenced by Royalty with Wallis Simpson ( the Duchess of Windsor) being one of the fashion icons of the day. The 1930s saw movie stars influencing fashion more and more – Think Joan Crawford.
Materials used in 1930s costume jewellery include bakelite ( still in the art deco geometric shapes and colours), marcasites, enamel and various non precious metals. “Pot Metal” is a silver tone metal which was widely used for setting with clear diamante.
Famous costume Jewellery designers starting in the 1930s include : Eisenberg, Joseff of Hollywood, Rebajes and De Rosa.
parts of dress clipback of dress clip
Next in this series on costume jewellery history is the 1940s and 1950s.
