Archive for Antique Jewellery
10 vintage jewellery books – introductory guides
Posted by: | CommentsHaving been asked to recommend a good book for identifying vintage brooches , I thought it would be useful to put together my top ten books for identifying vintage jewellery. These are in no particular order as their usefulness depends upon what you are wanting to know:
Title- Author- Publisher
1. Starting to Collect Antique Jewellery – John Benjamin – Antique Collectors Club
Good overview of what can be found in todays market for items from the 18th Century to the 1920s. Meant to be read not just a picture book
2. Antique and twentieth century Jewellery – Vivienne Becker – NAG
A book which was recommended reading on the Retail Jewellers course I attended. Good on the history of Jewellery a few pictures
3. Costume Jewellery- Judith Miller – Dorling Kindersley
Lots of big pictures of lovely jewllery, designer profiles for main costume makers
4. Costume Jewellery how to compare and Value – Steven Miners- Millers
Introductory book – perhaps a good one to start with
5. How to be a Jewelry Detective – C. Jeanenne Bell – A.D. Publishing
Examination of the detailed parts of vintage jewellery – how to test, read registration numbers. A practical but not pretty guide. Lots of information to read.
6. Collecting costume Jewelry 101 – Julia C Carroll – collectors books
In depth on designer signed costume Jewellery bit American
6a. Collecting Costume Jewelry 202 – Julia C Carrol – collectors books
Pattern numbers, patent numbers to help you date costume Jewellery from 1935 to 1980. Not a beginners book
7. Collecting Victorian Jewelry – C Jeanenne Bell – KP Books
Identification guide – pricing a bit out so ignore that bit. Alot about clothing fashions and the jewellery which went with them
8. Questions and Answers about Old Jewelry – C Jeanenne Bell – KP Books
Black and white photos rather than colour which would have been more useful but lots of detailed pictures to help with dating 1840 to 1950
9.Warmans Jewelry Identification and Price Guide – C Romero – Warmans
I like this one – a good read and good pictures. Lots of silver artist made jewellery
10. Bradburys book of Hallmarks – Bradbury – Sheffield assay office
No collector of silver or gold jewellery can be without at least one good hallmark book.
I hope this helps – I have a list of more specialized books eg cameos, silver jewellery which I will be compiling soon
Anne x
8 reasons why Vintage Jewellery makes a great gift
Posted by: | CommentsAntique Jewellery and Vintage Jewellery make excellent gifts for everyone male and female and including that special gift for yourself. There are a huge variety of pieces to buy in all materials, shapes, sizes and functions and in all prices ranges and so you should be able to find something for everyone. But why does vintage and antique jewellery make such a good gift?.
vintage brooch
Eight reasons Vintage Jewellery and Antique Jewellery make a great gift.
1. The recipient will like it
~ appeal is always the most compelling reason for buying a piece after all hopefully it will be worn time after time
2. It is more likely to be unique than a piece bought from a shop. No danger of someone else turning up with the same present or that the lucky recipient will be seen wearing the same as someone else.
3. Its a bargain / cheap
~ just compare prices with new for the same quality. Your gift of antique jewellery will look like you have spent a lot more than you really have. In these credit crunch days we all need to save a little and look like we’ve spent a lot
4. There’s a huge variety available in all shapes and sizes which means you can match the brooch, cufflinks, necklace or pendant to the taste of the individual.
5. Its more likely to be a better investment than a new piece. You will be giving a gift that will most likely appreciate in value and certainly will not devalue like new will.
6. Its green – what a better way to go green than to buy vintage – no one can accuse you of wasting the planets resources. Buy on-lin will reduce the carbon footprint even further as shopping on the internet uses less resources than buying from a high street shop.
7. Shows how much though and consideration you have put into the gift. Many who receive a gift are more interested in the time you have spent on the gift rather than the amount you spent on it. I am sure Mum or Grannie will really appreciate your special effort.
8. Vintage Jewellery for Men and for Women is high fashion this year. All the top names are wearing vintage and so can your friends too with that special vintage ort antique jewellery gift from you.
vintage ring
Looking and antique and Vintage necklace and Bracelet catches
Posted by: | CommentsThere are so many different types of catches depending upon the piece of jewellery that this part of the guide will be in two sections. This is all about vintage and antique necklace catches
There Are a wide range of necklace and bracelet catches, like brooch catches these have changed over the years and looking at them can help us to accurately date our piece of jewellery. Remember when I say that a type of catch was introduced at a certain date that it will be many years ( if ever) before it completely replaces the types of catch that came before it.
Perhaps one of the earliest forms of catch is the simple hook or shepherds crook shape which passes through an O ring. During the Victorian era we find box catches on bangles and spring O rings on most things which need a catch.
Barrel catches which screw the two ends together seem to have been introduced in the earlier 1900s and have lasted Allin side Box catches and O rings right up until relatively recently – the 1970s and beyond.
open barrel clasp
The style of box catches has changed with the prevalent style of the day for example they were very square in the art deco era and in the 1950s when pearls were popular they were highly ornate so that they could be worn at the front as part of the decoration.
Spring Clasp
One clasp we should take not of is the lobster catch – These are newish whilst I am not exactly sure when they first came into use they have not been around for more than 30 years and probably much less.
Lobster catch
One special type of bracelet catch is the heart shaped padlock which has been around since the Victorian era ( collectors look out for ones set with hard stones or of unusual shapes). These are usually found on vintage charm bracelets and often have a full set of hallmarks which would enable us to date the piece of jewellery accurately.
bracelet with heart padlock
The toggle clasp has also made a comeback recently – this has been seen in Victorian Jewellery but is more widely used nowadays.
Tell Vintage Jewellery from Antique Jewellery by the hinge
Posted by: | CommentsHinges are most often found on brooches rather than any other form of jewellery. By just looking at the hinge it is often possible to date a brooch broadly into the 1800s ( Georgian and Victorian) vs the 1900s ( Edwardian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, onwards). There are two important types of hinge to consider on vintage and antique brooches;
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16 ways to tell vintage jewellery from new and antique jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsHow to tell vintage jewellery from new and antique jewellery
Recently I was asked how to tell a piece of vintage jewellery from a piece of new or antique jewellery. With so many modern copies of genuine vintage and antique jewellery around it is important to be able to tell the difference. Reproduction jewellery is fine if you want that and know you are buying it and paying the right price however many prefer the real deal – But how can you tell a real piece of Victorian Jewellery from a piece recently made in the far east?
The answer is not simple but using a combination of different factors, signs, guidelines, clues and hints it can be worked out. I have found at least 16 of these so far – each of these deserves a fuller explanation and needs more pictures than I can give in one blog post and so I will expand on each of them here on this antiques blog over the comming weeks. There is enough information to full a book or two.
Vintage Ring or new?
These are in no particular order of importance. The importance will depend on this individual piece of vintage jewellery being looked at. For example – not all pieces of jewellery have a hinge and therefore that will not be important to most antique necklaces and vintage bracelets but looking at hinges is very important when determining the age of a vintage brooch.
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Hot Jewels – antique jewellery from Lava
Posted by: | CommentsAntique Jewellery carved from Lava
Seeing on the news about the underseas volcano erupting neat Tonga reminded me of a very unusual material used for making antique Jewellery - Lava from volcanoes. More specifically most of the lava jewellery we see was made from the Lava from Mount Vesuvius in Italy.
Lava Cameo
The Lava is soft and lends its self well to being carved into intricate shapes and as such was used to make a huge variery of cameo jewellery. Antique Bracelets, necklaces and especially brooches can all be set with cameos carved from lava. The Lava comes in a variety of colours varying from white through sludgy beige colours through reddish tones to almost black.
The trend for lava cameo jewellery began in the early Victorian era, ladies undertaking the Grand Tour of Italy would call in at Pompei and purchase a piece of Lava Cameo Jewellery as a souvenir of their visit.
Lava cameos are carved into a wide variety of subjects similar to those found in shell cameos: Classical scenes including Roman and Greek gods and goddesses. You can find famous historical figures and political figures from the Victorian era. A lady could also commission a lava cameo to be carved in her own likeness if she wished. The lava cameos are normally found mounted into gold or silver to form the jewellery
Care of your Antique Lava Cameo Jewellery.
Please remember Lava is a soft material, this is what helped it to be carved so well in the first place. It is soft enough to be easily damaged, I often find lava cameos with their noses a little flat or a curl missing from their hair. Please take care when you store your lava cameos, they should not be placed anywhere where they can knock against another piece of jewellery. Cleaning should be done with a soft dry brush only, lava is porous and if likely to stain if you get it wet. If in doubt I would say don’t clean a piece as you will most likely make it worse.
Sourcing Antique Lava Cameo Jewellery
These cameo pieces are rarer than shell cameos, you will need to hunt to find them. AntiuqesAvenue occasionally has a piece of lava cameo jewellery to sell or you could try hunting around the larger antique fairs – good luck and do send me a picture if you find any and I will add it here.
Lava Cameo charm
Current British Hallmarks on Jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsContinuing my series on hallmarking on vintage and antique jewellery by taking a look at current British hallmarks. These are relevant to vintage jewellery as the basic system has been around since 1973 although it was updated in 1999.
Here are the important things to know about hallmarking on British jewellery since 1973:
- - You can only describe an article dating from 1973 onwards as gold, silver or platinum of it is fully hallmarked unless it weighs below Silver 7.8 grams, Gold 1 gram and Platinum 0.5 gram)
- - A set of British hallmarks is : The sponsors mark, the metal standard mark,the assay office mark, the date letter
- -The orb mark is used for platinum and the crown for gold ( along with the fineness), the lion remains for silver
1977 hallmarks
This has since been amended:……….
April 2007 also sees another amendment to hallmarking legislation in respect of items originally brought on to the market pre 1950.
Before 1975, many precious metal articles (e.g. rings, whatever their weight, other than wedding rings) were exempted from hallmarking. Platinum was not hallmarked at all. Any article covered by these exemptions, if (a) of minimum fineness* (b) proved to have been manufactured before 1975, may still be described and sold as precious metal.
However, even articles which should have been hallmarked when they were made, but bear no hallmark, are now treated as exempt if they were manufactured before a specific date. Since 1999, the date has been 1920, but the amended legislation alters this date to 1950. Therefore, any pre-1950 item may now be described and sold as precious metal, if the seller can prove that it is of minimum fineness and was manufactured before 1950.
- Hallmarks are now: Makers mark, fineness and assay office mark ( not no date letter is required but it is optional)
Convention Marks:
Convention marks became legally acceptable instead of hallmarks in 1976. Convention marks are struck by any country which is part of the convention . These countries are: UK, Austria,Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Latvia and Lithuania.
A convention mark consists of a pair of scales with the metal fineness number ( the common control mark) the fineness number and the assay office mark. The assay office marks can be any from the countries mentioned above.
British Vintage Jewellery hallmarks from (1850s- 1970s)
Posted by: | CommentsPart four of AntiquesAvenue’s guide to Hallmarks on Vintage Jewellery and Antique Jewellery:
Gold brooch
Most of the Vintage and antique Jewellery we see today dates between the mid Victorian era and the 1970s so these are the most important Hallmarks to be able to read if we are looking at Vintage jewellery. The hallmarks during this time are complicated and often the jewellery has been worn and the hallmarks have become faint so they may be difficult to read. These hallmarks are for silver and gold only as Platinum was not hallmarked during this time. You can find the date letters, town marks and makers marks as well as the metal purity as hallmarks at this time.
GOLD (1854 to 1973):
- From the Middle ages until 1853 there were only two standards of gold 18 and 22 carat
- In 1854 the lower carats of 9 (.375), 12 (.5) and 15 (.625) were introduced
- Between 1854 and 1974 articles made of the lower carats were marked with their carat mark and value.
- 18 and 22 carat golds would have the carat mark and a crown hallmark in England and a Thistle in Scotland
- In 1932 the 12 and 15 carat golds were replaced by 14 carat (.585)
Silver Jewellery
Silver (Victorian times to 1973)
- There were just two standards of silver Britannia (.958) and Sterling ( .925) with sterling being by far the most common
- Britannia silver is denoted by the Britannia mark
- Sterling silver is hallmarked by the lion passant (England) and a Thistle ( Scotland)
There are all sorts of additional hallmarks and markings you can find on a piece of jewellery – Monarchs heads and special event commemorative marks for example. By the way if you see fine scratches in markings these are not hallmarks but identification marks made by various jewellers and pawnbrokers over the years.
If you find a piece of antique jewellery without hallmarks it may still be made of gold or silver but to be certain you need to get the metal tested and this is a skilled process which takes time to learn and care to carry out accurately.
The law changed in 1973 and is become quite a bit stricter and more uniform. I will discuss the hallmarks on more contemporary jewellery in the next part of my guide.