Millennial Series Part 1. This is part 1 of a multi-part educational series geared toward the millennial generation on collecting vintage and antique items. There will be series for both men and women. Part 2 will be collecting vintage toys. Comments, questions, feed-back is welcome.
To see our vintage costume & Bakelite jewelry click buttons below.
Collecting Period Costume Jewelry
Collecting period costume jewelry can be exciting and fun. So what is costume jewelry? Costume jewelry is usually but not always made from non-precious metals and non-gemstones. Many pieces are pot metal and paste gems, but not always.
What is meant by period? You have the term antique jewelry which covers any piece that is over 100 years old. But we have periods that are defined and those pieces can usually be defined by the look of the period.
Victorian Period [named after Queen Victoria] - 1837 to 1901
Edwardian Period [named after King Edward] - roughly 1901 to end of World War I
Art Nouveau Period -1890 to 1910 was defined as a style that defined architecture, art to furniture and jewelry. Art Nouveau period costume jewelry usually involved earth object shapes such as insects, goddess images and flowery flowing images. Many curved designs.
Art Deco Period - 1920 to 1940 replaced the trend of Art Nouveau with designs being symmetrical changing from the nature designs of Nouvea.
Celluloid, Bakelite & Lucite the plastics come of age from early 1900's through the 1960's. Celluloid is easily recognized as you will see in the example. Bakelite must be tested to assure its Bakelite. Lucite replaced Bakelite around the 1950s. Quality Bakelite is getting harder to find and be aware of Chinese Fakelite selling on eBay.
Hope you enjoyed this information and share it with your fellow collectors.
Until next time, Indy