Archive for October, 2008

Should you buy signed or unsigned vintage costume jewelry? If you're a beginning collector, that can be a tough question, especially if you don't have a large jewelry budget. In my mind, it depends on what you plan to do with the jewelry. Let's talk about it some.

Buying to Wear

If your main desire is to buy vintage jewelry you can wear, it may not make a difference if the pieces are signed.  There are many, many examples of beautiful unmarked vintage jewelry out there.  If you are buying to simply wear it, buy what you find pleasing.

A mark or signature is useful for dating a piece of jewelry, but provenance (which I spoke of in this post) can date a piece as well.  After all, you don't want to pay a vintage price for a contemporary piece of costume jewelry.

Buying for an Investment Collection

If you plan to buy mainly to collect vintage costume jewelry as an investment, you will want to buy either marked (signed) pieces or book pieces.  Both of these types tend to go up in value fastest, and have the best resale value.

A book piece is one that you can see in one of the many wonderful publications on costume jewelry.  Even if the piece is unsigned, if it's in a book and attributed to a designer, you can designate it as made by the designer.  Just remember to make a note of the book and page number where it's found, and keep that information (or even the book itself) with that piece.

And honestly, not all designers signed all their pieces.  For example, the gorgeous (and very valuable) Juliana-style jewelry, made by DeLizza & Elster was only sold with a paper tag as identification!  Now I ask you, if you bought a new piece of jewelry to wear, wouldn't you throw away the paper tag?  So there will undoubtedly be times when an unsigned piece is known to be made by a specific designer that will complete a set you're collecting.

If you fall into this category, it's best to mostly buy what you like, but there will be times that a piece doesn't appeal to you, but you know it has great value.  Grab it if you can get it at a great price.

Buying to Wear and Collect

Many people fall into this category (including me).  It's buying not only to build a collection that appreciates over time, but also to be able to wear selected pieces.

If this is where you see yourself, definitely buy what you like.  But like the investor, there may be times when a valuable piece of vintage jewelry can be had for a song, which doesn't appeal to you.  Snap it up anyway, because you can always resell it later.

I'll post a caveat here; be careful of what you buy to wear if it's an expensive piece.  Here's what I mean.  For example, I am tough on my bracelets; they get caught on clothes, snagged on furniture and the like.  So I almost never wear a collectable bracelet -- too much of a chance of me damaging it.

And strangely, the same holds for me with earrings; I have long hair and wear it loose.  Eventually earrings get snagged in my hair, and potentially get lost.  (I love earrings, though, so I collect them anyway and just don't wear them.)

So I'll wear my pins, pendants and necklaces because they last and last on me.

The point here is, for anything that you want to buy for its financial appreciation, follow the guidelines for the investor.  If you're buying a piece of vintage jewelry simply to wear and enjoy, a signature isn't quite as important.  You'll have to make that call on a piece-by-piece basis.

Since I mentioned Juliana-style vintage jewelry, I'll leave you with some Juliana eye candy.

It may seem a little early in the year to be talking about Christmas costume jewelry, but not really.  You see, Christmas jewelry (especially Christmas tree pins) are collected year around.

Collecting Christmas Trees

I haven't gotten much into Christmas tree pins yet, but I know it won't be long before I succumb.  Back in the mid-80's to mid-90's, I bought lots of contemporary Christmas pins, to wear in November and December.  Sometimes I kept the pins, sometimes a stone fell out or I just decided I didn't like it and...bye-bye pin!

I'm a little more careful these days with my pins; you can see one to the right (and you can click to enlarge the photo). It's signed "Gerry's" and since it's relatively recent, it's not in high demand. Guess I'll have to wait a few more years for that. Meanwhile, I do think it's pretty, and it's in excellect condition. One day!

There are some beautiful and very collectable vintage Christmas tree pins out there.  Most of the major manufacturers made them, and some like Beatrix really specialized in these little pieces of art.

Let's see, who else made some gorgeous pins?  Weiss and Eisenberg certainly.  JJ made some nice trees, as did Hollycraft, Art and Coro.  Really, the list could go on and on.

It's never too soon (or in my case, too late) to start , be they trees, weaths, figures or something else that fits the holliday.  Meanwhile, here are a few for you to peruse -- enjoy!

I was a beader before getting into costume jewelry.  (Actually, I still am a beader, in addition to the vintage costume jewelry).  Anyway, here's a story, and I wonder if it's happened to you as well.

About 4 years ago, I stopped by a flea market, to see what was available -- more or less just looking.  At one of the tables, I spied a bunch of beads, so naturally I had to go and take a look.

There were the standard not-quite-vintage necklaces, none of which impressed me enough to check on the prices.  Then I saw it; a beautiful triple-strand aurora borealis necklace.  Even in the shadow of the tent it was in, it sparkled and shone.  Hmm, what would it be like in the sunlight?

The woman selling the necklace told me that it had originally belonged to her mother, and it had been purchased in the late 50s.  And amazing, there was a set of earrings to match!

Now I was looking to take that necklace apart, and use those beautiful aurora borealis crystal beads.  (Are you cringing yet?)  And that I did.  And made them into some pretty jewelry.

But now when I think about the set itself, I wonder who made it.  I've certainly seen similar sets that were signed.  Some that went for more than I paid for the set, certainly.

Needless to say, I don't generally go looking for necklaces to pull apart for their beads anymore.  At least, not without checking first to see if they are signed...   I figure it's safer to just buy my beads from my regular beading sources these days.

Hopefully you haven't had a vintage jewelry "oops"! Meanwhile, here are some unsigned beaded necklaces that you can take apart.

So what exactly do I mean when I say "vintage jewelry"?  What makes a piece vintage -- is it age?  Beauty?  Being signed by a designer?

Well, it can certainly be all of them, but it is actually the age of the piece that determines if it's vintage or antique.

Defining Vintage Jewelry

Vintage is normally defined as a piece that is 20 to 100 years old.  Antique is over 100 years old.  Most of the jewelry (not to mention costume jewelry) the average person wears is what's called contemporary; less than 20 years old.

While a piece being signed by a designer is a decided plus, there are many lovely pieces that fall into the vintage era that aren't signed.  To the right is a costume jewelry brooch I bought in the mid-80's.  I loved it then, wore it proudly for quite a few years.  And I still love it now, unsigned as it is.

I know the provenance of the costume jewelry piece.  Provenance is the story behind the jewelry; when it was bought, how did I get it -- things of that nature.  Especially with an unsigned piece, provenance is important in determining its age.

Provenance can add to the value of a particular piece of vintage jewelry as well, depending on the story behind the piece.

Another piece I wore and loved for years was this Richelieu pearl necklace.  I used to twist the pearls around my neck, so the rhinestone and gold centerpiece would catch the light better.  It dates from the late 80's, so it's just squeaking in as being vintage. 

I always got tons of compliments when I wore it.  It wasn't an expensive piece when I bought it, and it's not terribly expensive now, but I doubt I would give it up anyway -- too many good memories behind it.

I know I mentioned in the previous post that costume jewelry was sparkly, and these two pieces don't really fall into that category.  Which goes to show you that vintage costume jewelry can have many different looks, all of them lovely.

Check Your Jewelry Box!

If you haven't already, why not look through your jewelry?  You might find some treasures within!  When you find some jewelry, turn it over, looks at the clasps and see if the jewelry is marked by the designer (you'll probably need some reading glasses or maybe even a loupe to make out the marks sometimes).  And you're on your way to building your own collection!

Today's designer is Weiss, whose work I love.  When I consider buying "sparkly", Weiss is one of the designers I look at.  As always, feel free to click on a photo to enlarge the image.  Enjoy!