Costume Jewellery Materials

What is costume Jewellery made of? When we are looking at vintage jewellery materials we see all sorts of lovely pieces, Necklaces, rings, earrings, bangles, brooches which are made of costume jewellery .  The term is used to cover all Jewellery which is not made of Precious stones and metals.

Semi Precious Costume Jewellery stones

Semi Precious stones are all naturally occurring gemstones which are not Diamonds, Rubies, Sapphires and Emeralds. For example amethysts, Citrines, aquamarines and opals are all considered to be semi precious and can be found as costume jewellery or fine jewellery depending upon the other materials they are made of.  If the semi precious stones are set with gold or platinum or silver then the Jewellery is generally considered to be fine Jewellery rather than costume Jewellery.  A string of amethyst chip beads would be costume jewellery as would a pair of opal earrings in a gold plated setting.

Agate Brooch

Costume Jewellery Metals

All metals except for gold, platinum and silver are costume Jewellery as is base metal plated with gold, silver or platinum. The metal in costume jewellery could be a metal we can name such as copper or brass . More likely this metal will be a mixture of metals . Pot Metal is is the term given to some base metal used in costume jewellery . Other metals I have found in costume jewellery include stainless steel, aluminium and Iron ( remember Iron nail necklaces in the 1970s?)

Costume buckle

Natural costume Jewellery materials

Many many different materials have been used in costume jewellery throughout history. Early materials would have included animal bones , feathers, river washed pebbles, leather and shell.  These are still used today in many ethnic style costume jewellery.  Cultured pearls are a natural costume jewellery material which has only been available for a little over 100 years.  The Victorians made wide use of costume jewellery materials , polishing agates into slabs.  A few more naturally occurring costume jewellery materials include Jet, Wood, fossils and amber.

Man Made Costume Jewellery materials.

Ceramic Jewellery, Lucite, Bakelite and all other plastic Jewellery, imitation gemstones ( CZ, Paste, Glass crystal). The beauty of costume jewellery is that these materials can be mixed and matched to create something beautiful to wear at a reasonable cost compared to fine jewellery.

Many pieces of costume jewellery are made of mixed materials, Take a look at this vintage brooch or art deco  glass necklace to see a couple of nice examples.