Discover Types of Vintage & Antique Jewelry

Types of Vintage & Antique Jewelry

Seek hallmarks of antique jewelry and vintage jewelry to round out your collection.

• Bakelite jewelry: Bakelite, also known as Catalin, is a dense synthetic resin that can be molded and carved to make jewelry, among other things. Patterned bakelite items of the Depression era, created by integrating one color with another, are collector’s items today.
• Bookchains: Victorian-era bookchain jewelry is made up of engraved rectangular links that look like tiny books. Large lockets were often integrated as an elaborate touch.
• Cameos: Cameo refers to a carving style where a design is up above the surface, in relief. Carved on a shell or in stone, such as sardonyx, the most common cameos are portraits of women, which were particularly popular in Victorian times.
• Celluloid jewelry: Celluloid jewelry, made from one of the earliest plastics, was first manufactured in the late 1800s. Derived from a natural plant fiber, celluloid was used for a variety of objects, including hair accessories, which were commonly set with rhinestones. (Warning: celluloid deteriorates if not stored properly and is flammable as well.)
• Doublets: Doublets are two pieces of inexpensive jewelry (usually a garnet and some colored glass) attached to create the illusion of a ruby, an emerald, or some equally impressive gemstone.
• Filigree jewelry: Filigree jewelry is ornamental handiwork of gold or silver wire twisted into intricate patterns and fused into place.
• Jet jewelry: Jet jewelry, also known as gagate, is a form of fossilized coal that was mostly mined near Whitby, England. The hard, yet lightweight black stone was commonly used in mourning jewelry during the Victorian period.
• Lace pins: Ladies of the Victorian and Edwardian eras used lace pins to hold their scarves in place.
• Micromosaics: Made with tiny, colorful tiles of stone, glass, and other materials, micromosaics are small pictures or decorations commonly found on pins. Some Italian-made treasures utilized over a thousand tiles per square inch!
• Mourning jewelry: Queen Victoria popularized mourning jewelry after her husband Albert died in 1861. Many widows then took up the tradition of wearing it to mourn the loss of a loved one. Mourning jewelry is often black, made of jet or black glass and metal with a Japanned finish. It is fairly subdued, featuring little ornamentation or details.
• Signed or stamped jewelry: Signed jewelry and stamped jewelry undergo a process where a punch or die cuts or embosses a sheet of metal with a mark or pattern in relief. Mass-produced jewelry and many medallions are made using this process.