Mae West 1930’s publicity still from Paramount Pictures.

Unfortunately not all vintage jewelry is signed. This doesn’t mean the piece isn’t worth something. It means you have to do your homework and research. Knowing what the styles were is very helpful in dating a piece. Jewelry styles changed in accordance with changes in hairstyles and clothing as well as world events.
1920-s to 1940’s
The 1920’s saw shorter hair, shorter skirts and a looser style of clothing for women. It was the “Modern Age” - bracelets in bold angular designs were seen on the arms of “Modern Women” as were long necklaces that ended in tassels and sparkly cocktail rings. Everything was all angles and lines were very “boyish”.
The 1930’s brought back feminine curves and artfully applied makeup. Hair styles were sleek and upswept. Moving pictures and movie stars were a huge influence in fashion.
Art Deco is a style that relates to 1920’s-1930’s, which ended about 1935. The Art Deco movement was mainly an American thing. The style of jewelry had strong lines, bright contrasts of color and geometric shapes. Bakelite became a very popular choice of material for creating fashion jewelry.
During this time period jewelry design was influenced by Japan, Paris, the machine age, Ancient Egypt (discovery of King Tut’s Tomb), jazz, cubism and Russia. Art Deco was also influenced by the Art Nouveau and Edwardian periods. Taking the style and grace from Art Nouveau; diamonds and platinum from the Edwardian period, designers turned jewelry into a geometric, symmetrical array of diamonds and platinum.
Art deco had great vibrant colors, sapphires, emeralds; coral, rubies and turquoise were heavily used. Black and white was also used a lot. Cocktail rings, long pendants, brooches and bangle bracelets were all the rage.
Cigarette cases and compacts of the time were covered in jewels. The movement of art deco halted because of WWII and the depression.
The end of the First World War marked the start of the popularity of costume jewelry. Fine jewelry at the time had unpleasant associations with being frivolous and unpatriotic. The new fashion for women was casual as well as sporty, and was not very well suited to the formality of precious gemstones. The Art Nouveau movement had already prompted a change in perception towards jewelry, focusing attention on aesthetic rather than monetary value. In the postwar period, the major couturiers took this one stage further by initiating the trend for entirely non-precious jewelry.
The 1930’s and 1940’s brought about the retro period. Large gemstones were being used. Topaz, citrine and aquamarine were popular. Even synthetics were starting to become popular. Platinum was replaced by rose gold.

I get asked this question a lot. And I have a few different avenues of research that I pursue when trying to “date” a particular piece.  One way is by looking at jewelry ads from old fashion magazines like this ad for Corocraft from 1957. Magazines are a wonderful way to  ”date” pieces because they will have dates on them and you can tell the approximate date of a piece by matching it to an ad.

Some vintage jewelry pieces have patents on them. This means they have a registered patent number which can be researched to determine the registration date. 

Google  has a new tool called “Google Patents” which contains a search-able data base of all US patents registered from 1790 to 2006. 

Another thing to look for would be a Copyright. In 1956 it became much more cost effective for designers to register a copyright on a design rather than go through the costly  patent process. Pieces bearing a copyright symbol indicates that it was produced in 1956 or later.

You can also look at the makers mark or signature on a piece. For example: The Schreiner Company of New York. Henry Schreiner immigrated from Bavaria Germany to the United States in 1923.  In 1939 Henry opened his own company based in New York.His daughter Terry and her husband Ambrose Albert joined the company in 1951. Henry died in 1954 and his daughter and son in law continued the business until 1975. Signed Schreiner pieces were marked with  “SCHREINER NEW YORK” in all capital letters in an oval. Some times designers did not sign their pieces. Henry Schreiner started out working for Christian Dior before opening his own company and his early pieces are not signed with his name. You can tell it was one of his designs because Henry Schreiner had a very distinctive style.

Another way to date a vintage piece of jewelry is by the style of the piece. Knowing what styles were popular over the years is very helpful.  Again  fashion magazine ads from past years are helpful as are history of costume books.

Remember back in college the two questions everyone asked when meeting for the first time? “Where are you from?” and “What’s your major? ” Every time I wear my vintage jewelry I can count on being asked “How old is it?” and “What did is cost?” or “What is it worth?” I am not an appraiser by any means. When asked the worth of something collectible my response is it’s only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

So how do I tell how old a piece is? Here are some very basic guidelines. Antique is anything considered over 100 years old. Vintage jewelry dates from the 1940’s through 1980’s. Both of these classifications have various periods in each.  Period styles have a way of overlapping and changes happened gradually. For example a style that was on the wane in England in the 1860’s could still be at its peak in popularity in the United States.  With the improvements of communications and travel these changes took place more rapidly. Jewelry was worn as a compliment to clothing and many things determined what materials were used such as: necklines, hemlines, hairstyles and even the economy.

Georgian Jewelry (1714-1837):
This jewelry most often was handmade, so that each unique piece varied in quality, depending on the maker. Georgian jewelry often featured shapes from nature, such as birds and flowers. Jewelry from this period included precious and semi precious stones such as garnets, diamonds, coral, and topaz. Georgian jewelry is very rare and highly collectible.
Early Victorian Jewelry (1837-1850):
Jewelry from this period, like Georgian, often reflected designs inspired by nature and are commonly etched in intricate gold filigree patterns. Lockets, brooches and cameos were very popular during this time period. For evening, one would often wear gemstones or diamonds.
Mid-Victorian Jewelry (1860-1880):
This period coincided with the death of Queen Victoria’s husband, Albert, and her period of mourning for him. Many jewelry pieces from this Mid Victorian period had a more subdued, austere, and somber design. Mourning pieces made of black jet, onyx and deep red garnets abounded. This period also resulted in different ways of using gems and metals, which resulted in much bolder and more colorful designs. With the discovery of a huge opal field in 1870 in Australia Queen Victoria revived the popularity of the opal. Japanese themes were popular in this period.
Late Victorian Jewelry (1885-1900):
This was a period of extremes and contradictions the “Gay 90’s” were both happy and naughty. Feminine colors and a big use of gemstones were all the rage and hat pins were especially popular as fashion accessories. 
Arts and Crafts Jewelry (1894-1923):
The industrial Revolution, with the advance of mass technology inspired designers of this period to return to intricate craftsmanship in their designs. The jewelry was colorful with simple patterns
Art Nouveau Jewelry (1895-1915):
The graceful Art Nouveau style was a rare exotic flower. Look for graceful flower designs with an abundance of dragonflies and other insects and a strong Japanese influence. This style of jewelry was considered art – an expression of the designer- and as such materials such as horn, ivory, tortoise shell and carved glass were used.
Edwardian Jewelry (1901-1910):
After the death of Queen Victoria, the Edwardian era was ushered in when her son Edward took the throne. This was a lavish period with pearls and diamonds in jewelry with emeralds, rubies and other gemstone accents it was a highly decorative and elaborate period.
Art Deco Jewelry (1920-1935):
This was a period of bright colors in contrast to each other with geometric shapes and very strong lines. Egyptian, Japanese and African influences abound. Bakelite and celluloid became very popular too, as did long ropes of beads and dangling earrings and a multitude of bracelets on the arm. Rhinestones and crystals emerged full force at this time.
Retro Jewelry (1940s - to about 1980):
The jewelry from this period was elaborate and colorful with an array of gold and gemstones. It had Hollywood for its inspiration, so the retro jewelry was somewhat larger than life in style. I consider this the “Golden Age of Rhinestones”

I do a lot of vintage jewelry repairs for people. Most of the time it involves re-stringing the piece so the owner can wear it. Let’s face it when many of these wonderful pieces were created the stringing materials were pretty much mono filament, cotton string or silk string. All of these materials eventually wear out. Mono filament gets brittle over time, silk and cotton can fray with time and all of these result in a necklace breaking at a very inopportune time and place.

Which brings me to a question of ethics. Is it OK to restring vintage pieces with newer stronger stringing materials?

Well that depends- you knew I was going to say that.

When I am repairing/restringing a piece it is usually for someone who wants to wear the piece.  So I use today’s better stringing materials on the pieces. I never use mono filament because it does get brittle and I do not like the way the necklace lays with it. I have many beautiful leaded crystal strands of beads that have been strung on mono filament. I won’t wear it or sell it if it is strung on this awful stuff. Usually the stringing material is so tight that the crystals actually grind against each other. I think in general that necklaces should be rather fluid- not tight and kinky. Vintage necklaces that I have that are strung on cotton or silk are either too loose- the fibers have stretched perhaps under the weight of the beads- or they are frayed and on the verge of breaking. Again - this is not an acceptable presentation in my studio to sell a piece like this. So I restring the pieces.

I let my clients know that the piece has been restrung. The clasp fits nice and tight and all the jump rings are replaced if necessary or shaped back into perfect circles with ends that align properly.

What about replacing missing beads? Or totally refashioning a necklace? The best policy is to be open and upfront about it when selling a piece. I think there are many vintage pieces out there that have been re-worked or repaired at one time or another.

This Haskell choker was too small for the owner to wear it. She needed it to be about an inch longer to be comfortable. I restrung it exactly like it was to begin with but added in black vintage seed beads on either side of the round black beads through out the entire piece. One would never know that it hadn’t been designed this way in the first place. The client was happy with the solution because she really liked the piece and wanted to wear it and we didn’t want to just add an extender to the clasp.

This necklace was one long strand and the customer just didn’t like it. After careful examination I believe it had at one time been a double strand necklace that some one had restrung into a single. It was really designed to be a double. The pattern that the beads were in did not make sense for a Haskell and the stringing material  was too new. I had no idea what the original patten was of the double strand but was able to put this configuration together using all the beads from the single strand. I used vintage double strand spacer findings so the patina of the metal matched that of the clasp. 

Is it OK to do this? Yes because the client requested it. If it were mine I would make full disclosure that the piece had been reworked. Most of us are buying these glamorous old beauties because we want to wear them and we do. They aren’t museum pieces and to be honest- something collectible is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

I had a bride contact me recently. She saw a hair clip in a bridal shop that would be perfect for her hair. She wanted to put it in her hair for the reception in place of where the veil was clipped into her hair. Apparently some of her recently wedded girlfriends did this and she loved the look. The crystal and rhinestone studded clip she liked was a little small and over $350! So she emailed me and asked if I could make something for her without the painful price tag. I have never made anything like this before and I always like a new challenge so I told her to let me play with it. After a few emails and pics back and forth and a couple of quick phone calls I created this piece for her hair.

I had an unsigned vintage rhodium finished necklace that would give me the perfect shape for the base. The Bride wanted a diamond shape and silver metal color.  I wired them together using fine beading wire and a perforated base metal rectangle. Then I used vintage AB coated clear and light topaz crystals across the center of the two necklace pieces. I also wired crystals to the edges of the piece in a lace like pattern. All of this was then carefully wired to a large hair pin. I made sure there were no wires sticking out anywhere to catch or poke. It turned out beautiful and cost only $50.00 Bride was happy- I was happy!

My daughter is getting ready to attend a wedding tomorrow. She found this wonderful little dress in a sage green color with medium sized off white polka dots. There is a big bow on the back and there is a bit of tulle peeking out from under the skirt. It’s a short dress and even though it is new it is very retro in style. Think classic Barbie- before the Malibu tan! She just left the studio with the following vintage pieces to set off her dress:

A Fabulous Bag hand embellished by me with a rhinestone martini brooch, olives and swirls and of course crystals.  She then chose a pair of  vintage rhinestone studded white plastic earrings and this matching bangle bracelet.

She looks absolutely fabulous. Don’t you agree?