The Red Rhinestone Coro Earrings

I have a secret.  I'm not just a vendor of vintage jewelry.  I am a lover of vintage jewelry, and if I could, I would buy, buy, buy and never part with anything.  It's not just that it's beautiful.  I feel like each piece has a story to tell.  Some were worn when the now husband of 54 years proposed.  Some were worn for a college graduation.  Or for a funeral.  And some were presents from long gone loved ones that ended up sitting in a jewelry box for 50 or even 75 years. 

The other part of my secret is that I regard many pieces of vintage jewelry as orphans.  Vintage jewelry was often designed as sets that got broken up over the years.  I want to bring these sets back together.  Like a lost child coming home.

Of course, I love some of my jewelry pieces more than others.  So it was with great sadness that I recently sent the lovely Coro earrings above off to a new home.  I had these for quite a while and didn't list them for months because I couldn't part with them.  I had seen them in a book as part of a set and I really wanted to find the matching choker.  Alas, it was not to be. 

They have gone to a new home.  I hope the person who purchased them will take good care of them.  I hope they already had other parts of the set so they are going back to their family.  I miss them already, but now I must bid them a fond farewell. 

Wedgwood Cameos

As soon as you saw the word Wedgewood, the colors blue and white probably popped into your head.  I think almost everyone is familiar with the beautiful Wedgwood pottery in it's traditional colors.  But Wedgwood also comes in a variety of other colors:  greens, pinks, grays and various shades of blue among others.

In addition to pottery, or another form of pottery if you prefer, Wedgwood also produces cameos that are used in fine and costume jewelry.  Miniaturized versions of their classical designs are an obvious choice for cameos. 

The Wedgwood line goes back hundreds of years.  Josiah Wedgwood, creditied with the invention of the jasperware so popular today, came of a long line of potters.  After his death in 1795, his sons carried on and the Wedgwoods still run the pottery today.

Josiah Wedgwood and his pottery was to so important to England, that in 1930 are large celebration was held to commemorate his birth.  Eyewitnesses claimed it was a celebration of much "pomp and circumstance."  Special lines of pottery were developed to mark the occasion and they are highly collectible today.

In 1795, the date of his death, Josiah Wedgwood's invention was publicly celebrated once again.  Special commemorative items were issued in 1995, including a set of Bicentenary Cameos.  Each small round cameo is a minature work of art.  These lovely items should be treasured for generations to come.

The Start of an Addiction

Thought I would briefly touch on why I am so interested in vintage costume jewelry.  There are actually two parts to the beginning of my addiction.

First, I remember my mother's jewelry dating from the late 1940's and 1950's.  I think that most baby boomers would have the same experience.  Back then, women dressed up all the time.  Their outfits matched their shoes which matched their handbags.  And of course their jewelry had to compliment what they were wearing.  Matching sets that included a necklace, bracelet and earrings were all the rage. 

Of course, this was right after WWII and materials that hadn't been available during the war were now both plentiful and cheap.  Dior came out with his "New Look".  The perfect accessories were matching beads, cluster earrings and possibly a matching bracelet.  If you can remember the outfits Michelle Pfieffer wore in Hairspray, you will know what I mean.  There was also lots of lucite - jewelry, purses and shoes.  And my mother had it all.

The second factor was, believe it or not, science fiction.  I became a big fan of Dr. Who.  Southern California has always been big science fiction territory, so I started going to conventions, particularly those featuring the Doctor. There was a vendor selling vintage jewelry at one I went to about 25 years ago.  I bought a rhinestone dragon from her, as well as some other pieces.  That was the beginning of my actively seeking out vintage costume jewelry.

Yesterday I found my little dragon in a box.  After 25 years he's a bit battle scarred.  His gold isn't as shiny in some places and a rhinestone or two is missing.  But I will always think of him fondly and never part with him regardless how tattered he gets. 

Timeless Cameos

As soon as you saw the word cameo in the title, an image popped into your mind.  It was probably of an oval necklace or brooch, featuring a woman's profile in white against a pink background.  Perhaps there is also a tiny rhinestone or diamond.  Something like the cameos pictured below.

That particular image is one of the most enduring in jewelry.  Cameos have been around for at least 2,000 years.  They have been carved or molded from materials like stone, mother of pearl, ivory, shell, plastic, glass and metal.  Some of the most popular motifs have been mythological, historical or religious.  But cameos are not restricted to portraying people.  Almost anything  the maker can come up with can be used at the subject of a cameo.

During the Victorian era, carved sea shell cameos from Italy became particularly fashionable because they were worn by Queen Victoria.  They were also  said to have been worn by Queen Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great.  But these days, you don't need to be a queen to wear cameos!

As old as the craft of cameo making is, they are still being carved from similar materials today.  Sometimes the best way to explain something is to take a picture, so I've included some examples of modern cameos.  Luckily for us, these cameos are readily  available and affordable.

Fleeting Fashions

Ok, I'm going to put this right up front.  I'm older than dirt.  Well, maybe not quite that old, but old enought to remember the day Kennedy died, but not the night  Lincoln was shot.  In fact, I'm one of those baby boomers you hear so much about.  So as a result, I pretty much came of age in the turbulent 60's.

If you grew up in a small town in the 60's, as I did, you were really still stuck living in the 50's.  So when I went off to  a huge college, where my freshman class was bigger than my whole town in 65, I was confused about a lot of things.  And I wasn't alone.  At the beginning of the sexual revolution, and during the protests about Viet Nam, I and many of my roommates, were seriously conflicted about piercing our ears.  We would literally debate for hours over getting our ears pierced.  Because getting your ears pierced wasn't something "nice" girls did. 

But the jewelry manufacturers of the 60's apparently saw our dilemma and came up with a solution.  They designed a screw back earring that looked pierced from the front.  Yep, for two years, I and my friends anxiously searched stores for earrings that made it appear our ears were pierced so we wouldn't actually have to go out and do it.

The earrings were designed like the standard screw back earring.  They were generally long and dangly.  At the top, there was just a single wire.  I've included some examples, because I'm sure I haven't explained this clearly. 

This fashion must have been a real boon to jewelry manufacturers.  Because there wasn't really anything to hold the earring in place, they were easily lost and constantly replaced.  I'm sure I never purchased a pair that lasted more than three wearings.

As quickly as this style appeared, it disappeared.  For me, these are easy earrings to date because I remember them so well.  And whenever I come across this style of earrings, I always think back of my college days and the innocence they represented.

Plastics and Lisner Jewelry

I can't talk about the use of plastics in jewelry without adding a little about one of my favorite jewelry companies, Lisner.  In my opinion, Lisner made the best use of molded plastics of any jewelery company in the 1950's.  Almost any serious jewelry collector would agree that a set of Lisner's molded maple leaf jewelry is a must if you want to consider your collection complete.

I'm still working towards that elusive goal, but here are just a few examples from my personal collection.  I'm always hoping to add similar pieces!

 

 

Plastic Jewelry

I have to tell you that plastics are the bane of my existence. There are so many plastics out there that mimic other materials, such as ivory, glass and coral, that it makes it really hard sometimes to figure out what was actually used in a piece of jewelry,

One of the biggest clues, of course is weight. Plastic is often lighter than other materials. Then there's feel. Plastic tends to feel warm, while glass feels cooler to the touch. Of course, there's also close examination with a loupe and some other tests. But plastic can be a great pretender, which is one of the reasons it's been used for so many years in jewelry.

First plastics were developed as early as 1867. Plastic such as cellulose, casein and Bakelite could be molded into many useful and decorative items. Synthetic resins were developed in the 1920's and were often used in jewelry. These resins could be molded and colorized in many ways to make beautiful and inexpensive jewelry. Since these plastics coincided with the Art Deco era, many beautiful geometric pieces were made that are still just as glamorous today.

The 1930's and 1940's was the age of cellulose plastic. Since these plastics could be formed into thin sheets, they could be molded into almost shape. This is my favorite era of plastics, because there were so many delightful figural and floral pieces made during this period. Of course, the same material was often used for Craker Jack charms!

Lucite also became popular during the 1940's and 1950's because it was used for the war. The materials that were used in airplane windshields was also used to make jewelry, handbags and high heels.  I remember this era quite well because my Mom's favorite outfit included a clear plastic basket handbag and a pair of clear high heels studded with rhinestone designs.


Today, all kinds of plastics, including Bakelite, are still used in making jewelry.  Inexpensive plastic can be made to look like much more expensive materials or used on their own to make whimsical and beautiful designs.  If you'd like to learn more about plastic jewelry, I would suggest Collecting Art Plastic Jewelry by Lee Leshner and Plastic Jewelry by Lyngerad Kelley and Nancy Schiffer.