Vintage Jewelry
Click on a selection below
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Accessories: This category includes things like cufflinks, hair combs, watch chains, purses, compacts, boxes, hair ornaments, vinaigrettes, and chatelaine pieces.
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Agate - Scottish Agate - Moss Agate - Malachite: Scottish Agate - Agate or Pebble jewelry has long been crafted in Scotland. When Queen Victoria married Prince Albert they purchased Balmoral Castle in Scotland as a vacation home. She was very happy there and wanted to carry her joy home and purchased lots of Scottish Agate jewelry. (Victoria was known to be a lover of jewelry.) British ladies, wanting to emulate her, bought their own Scottish jewelry, setting off a trend for Scottish jewelry even if you had never been there. These pieces are usually set in sterling although they can be found in gold.
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Alice Caviness:
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Austro-Hungarian Jewelry: The very ornate looking "Gypsy style" usually in silver.
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Bakelite:
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Beads:
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Bog Oak: Bog Oak comes from oak trees which are beginning to be fossilized after being buried in peat bogs for hundreds to thousands of years. The low oxygen levels keep the wood from rotting while the acidic conditions of the peak allow iron salts to react with tannins in the wood turning it black and very hard. Bog Oak is found in the peat bogs of Ireland and most Bog Oak jewelry is a souvenir of Ireland, not necessarily mourning. Bog Oak can be distinguished from other Victorian black materials by a usually Irish subject matter ( shamrocks and castles) and a visible wood grain.
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Boucher: Many of the most collectible Boucher pieces are marked with the "Phrygian cap" mark. This mark, used from 1944 to 1949, contains the initials "MB" and an outline image of a phrygian cap or liberty cap, a soft conical cap associated with the theme of liberty in Europe. They were worn during the French Revolution, and Marcel Boucher used them to emphasize his French heritage.
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Bracelets:
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Cameos:
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Celluloid and Other Early Plastics:
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Charms and Charm Bracelets:
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Coral:
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Coro and Corocraft: DUETTES - Duettes are a pair of clips that attach to a frame with a pin on it. They can be worn has one large pin or two smaller clips. Although many manufacturers made them, Coro is the best-known maker of these and they made a huge number of them.
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Czechoslovakia Jewelry: The Czechs were master glass makers and produced glass jewelry in the 20s and 30s. These pieces were usually made from stamped filigree brass and quality glass pieces. Their work is very recognizable, and is often strongly art deco.
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Dragon's Breath Glass: Dragon's breath glass stones were developed in the early 1900's in Czechoslovakia. They are usually found set in sterling. They are a costume Mexican fire opal made of glass with metals added during their manufacture to give pink sparkly color with flashes changing from pink to blue. These stones are not foiled.
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Dress Clips:
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Earrings:
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Egyptian Revival Jewelry: Inspired by the motifs of ancient Egypt this jewelry features sphinxs, scarabs, mummies, and sarcophagi. It was very popular in the art nouveau period, probably due to the naturalistic themes. There was a surge in popularity after the discovery of King Tut's tomb in 1923. Most Egyptian Revival jewelry was from this period, however there was an earlier revival in the 1820s inspired by Napoleon's conquest of Egypt.
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Eisenberg and Eisenberg Original:
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Essex Crystals: A Essex Crystal is a cabochon of rock crystal or glass carved on the back (flat) side and painted to produce a 3-D effect to the subject. The carving was often backed with mother of pearl. These are also considered to be reverse intaglio crystals.
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Fordite: Fordite - also called Detroit Agate - is auto paint that has accumulated on the tracks and skids as car body parts were hand spray-painted on the assembly line. When hardened, it can be carved just like bakelite. It usually has blobby layers of color and when washed in hot water it emits a chemical smell.
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Fur Clips:
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Garnets: Victorian garnet jewelry was usually made using Bohemian garnets, which are from Czechoslovakia. They are a deep red color. They can be rose cut or flat cut, and can be foiled (backed by a small snippet of shiny tinfoil) or not.
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Gold:
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Gold Filled Jewelry:
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HAR:
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Hattie Carnegie:
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Heintz and Heintz Style:
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Hobe:
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Insects: Insect jewelry could be made from actual insects or just simply feature insect motifs.
Hard insects like beetles could be treated like gemstones and prong set into jewelry. Scarab beetles (Scarabaeidae) are very common colorful beetles and were often used. Bright green metallic wood-boring beetles (Buprestidae) were and still are used for jewelry. Another very large family of beetles with many colorful members is the leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae).
Butterfly wings could be made into jewelry, usually set under glass. The most common butterfly wing to be made into jewelry is that of the Morpho butterfly of South America. These butterfly wings are an iridescent blue even after years because the wings are covered with prisms which continue to split up light even after death. These pieces are often purchased as a souvenir of a trip to Rio and are usually found in silver or silver tone. Thomas L. Mott of England made sterling real butterfly wing jewelry from the Victorian period into the 1920's. This sterling English butterfly wing jewelry exploded in popularity after 1924 when it was exhibited at the British Exposition. This jewelry is an example of the jeweler's creativity in using materials other than gemstones to make beautiful, colorful jewelry.
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Jelly Belly: After the development of lucite in 1931, crystal-like cabochons of lucite were set in pins, especially as the bodies of animals. This style was very popular in the 40's and 50's.
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Joseff Jewelry: Joseff designed jewelry to be worn in the movies. He use a matte finish that would show up on film but would not reflect the lights of the movie set.
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Lockets:
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Lucite:
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Lucky Mustard Seeds: This jewelry features a mustard seed encased in plastic or glass. The mustard seed is considered to bring good luck. It refers to the Bible verse Matthew 17:20 "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed.... nothing will be impossible to you".
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Miriam Haskell:
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Mosaics: Glass mosaics are made by cutting and gluing many tiny glass tiles into a background to form a picture. The older the pieces are, the smaller the tiles and the more detailed the picture. Rome is famous for glass mosaics, and many were purchased there has souvenirs of The Grand Tour.
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Napier:
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Necklaces:
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Onyx Jewelry: Onyx was a popular choice for mourning jewelry because it is black.
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Other Designer Pieces: Original by Robert - Beau Sterling - Shiebler - Krementz - Austria - Pennino - Silson - Hollycraft - Korda Thief of Bagdad - Ocean Treasures - Mazer - Wendy Gell - Kalo - Forstner - Kerr - Nettie Rosenstein
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Paste: Paste stones have been used instead of genuine stones. Paste is high lead crystal called "paste" because when heated it doesn't go all the way to a liquid but stays a malleable paste. These costume pieces are collectible in their own right.
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Peacock Eye Glass: Peacock eye glass cabochons and beads were often used in art nouveau and arts and crafts period jewelry. They were made in Bohemia from the late eighteen hundreds on by layering green glass over foil and adding cobalt blue spots. They resemble the eyes of peacock tail feathers.
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Pendants:
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Peruzzi Jewelry:
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Pietra Dura Jeweley: Pietra Dura (hard stone in Italian ) mosaic pieces were made by cutting small pieces of stone and assembling them into a background to form a picture. The Italian city of Florence was famous for its Pietra Dura and many were purchased there by victorians as souvenirs of their Grand Tour.
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Pins - Including Sash Pins: SASH PINS - Sash pins were large heavy pins with thick pin stems from around 1890 through 1915. The fashion at this time was to wear a sash over the shoulder and across the chest (like Queen Victoria); or with the lighter Edwardian fashions, around the waist. These pins were used to secure the sash to the dress and were large and heavy to pin through multiple layers of cloth. They come in many styles and motifs.
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Pool of LIght: Pools of light are rock crystal globes from Japan. They are called "pools of light" because light shining on them gathers in bright pools both inside and underneath the globes.
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Regency Jewelry:
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Rhinestone Jewelry:
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Rings:
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Sandor Jewelry:
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Satsuma: Satsuma pottery was made in Japan in the 1800's. With an ivory body and enamel over glaze, it was a popular export. It was used to make belt buckles, belts, buttons and other accessories in Japan,which were often made into jewelry and sold to the West. Many Satsuma jewelry pieces were made from these decorative utilitarian objects. Designs feature Geisha Girls, butterflies, cranes, flowers and dragons.
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Schiaparelli:
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Schreiner New York:
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Sets:
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Silver and Sterling - Siam Sterling:
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Snake Jewelry and Ouroboros: Snakes were a popular subject for Victorian jewelry. The Victorians were fascinated by the classical world which was coming to life for them due to many archaeological discoveries during this period. The classical peoples thought snakes were important,so the Victorians did too. Classical people considered snakes to be the ultimate worshiper of the Mother Earth because they laid their entire bodies down upon her. To them, snakes were sacred symbols. The Christian Bible turned the snake into an evil character to overcome this belief and aid in the conversion of pagans to Christianity. To the Christian philosopher, the snake sloughing off his skin represents the transmigration of souls - the soul passes from life to life in the eternal cycle of life and death.
Ouroboros - This is the oldest mystical symbol in the world. It came to the West from Egypt via Greco-Roman culture. "Ouroboros" means "the tail-devourer". It is a snake forming a circle by swallowing his own tail or forming a lemniscate (symbol for infinity).Ouroboros symbolizes Infinity. On a deeper level it symbolizes wholeness in the eternal cycle of life, death and rebirth - the eternal return. In mourning jewelry this would be resurrection and the rebirth of a soul into heaven.On a even deeper philosophical level, as Ouroboros swallows his tail (the past), it seems to disappear but is never really gone. It is only moved onto a internal plane. Out of sight, but not out of mind - never really gone from your heart.
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Southwestern:
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Stanley Hagler:
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Stick Pins:
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Tortolani:
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Trifari:
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Victorian Revival Jewlelry:
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Vinaigrettes and Perfume Holders: These were popular accessories during both the Georgian and Victorian eras.
Vinaigrettes would contain a sponge or a piece of cloth that could be soaked with vinegar. When a lady felt faint due to either severe corseting or the noxious odors of the unsanitary streets, she could take a whiff of vinegar for restoration.Perfume holders would be filled with perfume or scented oil to cover-up unpleasant odors. A lady could, again, take a sniff if offended. She could also keep her perfume fresh all day , and surround herself with pleasant odor. This could be important in the days before indoor plumbing and wash and wear clothing.
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Vogue:
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Weiss:
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Wooden Jewelry: