Vintage Watches and Chronographs

One of the most interesting pieces of jewelry for either a woman or a man are watches. Available in a wide variety of styles and decorative details, watches make a timeless gift. Wrist watches, finger watches, brooch watches, stopwatches, and chronographs are all interesting works of engineering due to their moving parts. Regardless of what type of watch is preferred, well maintained vintage watches make a great collectible.

Although most people are familiar with stopwatches, chronograph isn't as familiar of a term. A chronograph combines the functions of a stopwatch and timekeeping. Although they were produced as early as the 18th century, chronographs didn't gain popularity until around 1820.

Vintage chronograph watches in good working condition may be more difficult to find than other types, and if a person wanted a nice one, they would perhaps need to purchase a new chronograph watch.

Chronograph watches are a perfect example of form combined with function, and are enjoyed for many years.

Vintage Plastic Jewelry in Bakelite, Thermoset and Celluloid

Bakelite on Wood

Plastic vintage jewelry comes in a variety of shapes, colors, and styles. Celluloid, the earliest plastic developed, was first attempted in 1856. Bakelite was first discovered in 1897, and thermoset plastic experiments began in 1928. Thermoset was later branded as "Plexiglass" and "Lucite", and like their early plastic counterparts became popular for manufacturers and consumers.

Today, vintage plastic jewelry remains very collectible, with the designer labeled pieces fetching the highest prices. Companies like Coro, Lisner, Selro, Selini, Sarah Coventry, and others manufactured many designs using Thermoset plastic.

With it's capability to be molded into a variety of shapes, Thermoset was formed into leaves, flowers, and a large variety of other designs. Plastic floral brooches, necklaces and sets gained popularity. Many of the semi-transparent molded Thermoset vintage jewelry sets have come to be known as "fruit salad" on popular auction sites such as eBay.

Manufactured by companies such as Lisner, the semi-transparent pieces that appear almost jelly-like often sell for a high amount. Full designer sets known as a "parure", with a necklace, bracelet, and earrings, have sold for more than $300.00, but some for much less if they don't bear a designer name.

Coro Confetti Necklace

 Companies like Coro, and designers like Pam, also became known for their confetti plastic jewelry, which had bits of glitter and other shapes like stars mixed into the plastic, which quickly gained popularity and still remains popular today.

Although market trends shift, vintage plastic jewelry will most likely remain quite collectible, and as the pieces become more difficult to acquire and as the demand increases, the prices will continue to add value to your vintage jewelry collection.

Yesterdays Vintage Jewelry and Tomorrows Antiques

Yesterdays vintage jewelry will one day become tomorrows antiques, but when is something considered to be 'vintage' or 'antique'? The answer to that question can sometimes vary depending on what type of collectible a person is referring to, but here we'll be talking about jewelry.

'Vintage' generally refers to an item from a specific time era, and generally it's at least 20 years of age, so it would refer to the time period through the 1980s. For example, you might have a vintage necklace, which you know is from 1950, so it could be referred to as a '1950s vintage' necklace. However, 'vintage' is a loosely used term, and it's not always the correct term to use just because something is no longer manufactured, and that may be when the term 'vintage reproduction' would be appropriate.

On the other hand, if the necklace is at least 100 years old, then it could truly be referred to as an 'antique'. There are times when I will refer to an antique piece as vintage, just because I'm so used to using the term vintage - lol. However, if I were to list a true antique jewelry item for sale, I would definitely list it in the 'antique' section since it is an antique.

If a jewelry item is neither 'vintage' or 'antique', but of vintage style then it could be referred to as 'vintage reproduction'. If you're purchasing an item for your personal collection, the terms antique, vintage, and vintage reproduction may not make that much difference to you, but if you plan to sell the item be sure to accurately describe the item as antique, vintage, or vintage reproduction.

Czech Out This Gold Toned Brooch

Down through the ages, many styles of brooches have been viewed as "classic" pieces of jewelry. Although their clasps, pins, and pin hinges have changed as time has gone by, they're still worn on lapels, blouses, used as scarf pins, and more.

In the earlier years up to around 1900, brooch clasps were an open c-clasp design, and thereafter the locks were an added improvement. Another trait of older brooches is the fact that the pins were made longer, and hung out beyond the edge of the brooch setting.

This Czech or Victorian style brooch has bright clear rhinestones, with the exception of a few that have darkened over the years.

The amethyst glass stone in the center has retained it's liveliness, and overall the classic round gold-washed brooch is in excellent condition, especially considering it may be from the late 1800's.

Vintage 14K Gold Cross Rock Necklace

I'm sure you would agree that there are many different designs of cross pendants and necklaces to choose from, new or vintage, but this 14K yellow gold cross necklace I owned years ago, was truly unique. This is one vintage jewelry item I somewhat regret selling, but I don't wear yellow gold very often so I decided to let it go.

The most interesting point about this cross necklace, is the clear glass bubble inserted into the center, which had what appeared to be a chunk of stone inside. Perhaps a chunk of stone from the Holy Land, or from Jerusalem? That was undetermined, but it was truly unique compared to many other cross necklaces and pendants I've seen.

Since the cross pendant had the appearance of a chunk of stone inside, I referred to it as the "cross rock necklace".

I have many other cross and crucifix pendants in my collection, most of which will go up for sale, but prior to selling them I'll probably share those here too, so if you like crosses and crucifixes, be sure to check back to watch for more in the near future.

Margot de Taxco Enamel Floral Bracelet and Earrings

Margo de Taxco silver jewelry is highly collectible, and the enameled pieces are to die for! As they say, we can't have everything in life, and this Margot de Taxco silver enameled floral bracelet and earrings demi parure, was on my wish list. (Wow, that sentence was a mouthful - lol). I desired to acquire this set, but was unable to splurge this time around.

For me, the next best thing is to be able to enjoy the images of the sets I'm unable to acquire, and I would like to share this set with you. If you're a fan or collector of vintage jewelry, I'm sure you would agree that the next best thing to having the actual set is to be able to at least view the eye candy from these vintage beauties! These images are here by prior authorization and courtesy of the eBay seller, who sold the set. Thank you, Elizabeth of Lozen Gallery for providing me the opportunity to share this beautiful Margot de Taxco set with the readers of Vintage Jewelry Hunt! By the way, at the link above for "Margot de Taxco", there is a brooch in the same floral and enamel setting!

This was the auction description from Lozen_Gallery for the set:

Here's a beautiful and feminine sterling and enamel bracelet and earring set from the celebrated and highly collectible Mexican silver artist Margot Van Voorhies. The bracelet is 7 3/4 inches long and the width is 3/4 inches at the widest. The earrings are clipon style and are 1 1/2 inches long including the hanger and 3/4 inches wide. The total weight is 48 grams. The bracelet is marked Margot de Taxco and Hecho en Mexico as well as the eagle 16 and the design number 5837. The earrings are not marked, but they are identical to the bracelet links. There are 7 petals, 4 of them have scratch marks in the enamel of the front petal, but it does not detract from the beauty of the piece. I see no enamel loss, aside from the scratch marks they are in perfect shape. This set dates to the 1950's time period.

The set was auctioned for $300.00 which by all means is not over-priced for such a wonderful set!

Polychrome Art Glass Jewelry

Polychrome art glass jewelry provides a bright and colorful choice for accessorizing an outfit. Polychrome generally refers to when three or more colors are used, and creates a chrome-like appearance. Most likely if you're a person that likes dichroic glass then you would probably also like polychrome jewelry.

This set, which was a demi-parure consisting of earrings and a necklace was interesting, but it did not have a designer or makers mark.

Although I normally love vintage jewelry made of art glass, this polychrome set was in a gold-toned setting, and the colors just didn't suit me, so I sold it on eBay several years ago.

If it had been in the peacock art glass colors and in a silver-toned setting then I may have decided to keep it for my personal collection of vintage jewelry.

An interesting point about some of the polychrome art glass sets is that the glass is sometimes done in a texture, which was the case for this set.

The blue and green tones are set off by the bright pinkish purple and almost give the appearance of a gem.

The colors in this set were so vibrant, it was certainly not for the person who prefers a subtle style of jewelry, but more for those of us who like big and bold!