Vintage Necklaces
Vintage necklaces can pertain to precious types, and the costume types. For precious types, there is really not much to worry about when it comes to the authenticity of the piece. These are easily researched and verified. Not to mention, that these type of pieces, that includes precious stones and settings, can easily command anywhere from a few thousand dollars, to upwards of a million dollars and even more. Therefore, since these types of pieces are limited to a choice few folks, lets concentrate on the costume style jewelry. This aspect has, in more recent days, become somewhat of a collectors boom. There are many different aspects when it comes to collecting this type of jewelry, however, lets look at some of the finer aspects of these costume style vintage necklaces.
Lets begin by discussing whether it is vintage or not. This will normally apply to a piece that is at least twenty years old. However, it should apply to older pieces, and this term has been used too liberally in the jewelry collecting field. Although, when you add the word antique before vintage, this, for the most part, will pertain to a piece that is at least fifty years old.
What types of metals was used in costume jewelry? Many different types of metals was used to create these works of art. From a basic pot metal, to Nickel, to Rhodium, and sometimes even gold and silver. However, for the largest part, these were made with basic pot metal. And, just because they was made with this pot metal, and do not have any precious, gold, silver, or platinum, metal in them, does not make them any less beautiful. On the contrary, these pieces may even be more beautiful than many of their more expensive precious stone filled counterparts.
On the same lines as the metals, there are many types of stones that was used to create these little gems. These would include Lucite, mother of pearl, many different colors of rhinestones, and glass. With respect to glass, these style of stones would or could be frosted or colored, and may even include metal in the creation process in order to achieve a certain appearance.
Now for the largest part of costume jewelry collecting knowledge, the fakes. There are many creditable dealers out there, however, there are just as many non-creditable dealers also. When collecting this type of an item, do the research. Study and know the differences. There are many books on the subject, that include many photographs which will aid in the verifying process. There are also many collector websites the one can visit in order to gain insight also. Many are specialty sites that will pertain to what the collector specific collects, therefore, some searching may be required. But, rest assured, when it comes to these vintage necklaces, or any vintage costume jewelry for that matter, it is always best to do your homework.
