Know What To Look For In Vintage Costume Jewelry

By: Jon Kreps

One of the biggest challenges for the new collector is
determining which pieces of vintage costume jewelry are most
profitable to target and which to avoid. While fine jewelry was
often hand-made using precious materials like diamonds and
rubies, costume pieces were made in mass batches using
semi-precious materials like quartz and topaz. However, you
should never mistake vintage costume jewelry with the cheap
glittery garbage you see in most department stores today.

American soldiers were the first to purchase costume jewelry in
French boutiques during WWI, making the jewelry widely popular
after they returned home. In fact, by the end of the 1920's, the
once-European industry was dominated by American companies like
Coventry, Eisenberg, and Coro creating many of the most prized
collectible pieces.

Profitable collecting definitely boils down to identifying the
valuable pieces while avoiding the pretty but worthless ones.
Ultimately, the value of any piece is determined by:

Supply Demand Design Materials Condition

If other pricing factors are held constant, then the rarity of
the piece will greatly determine value. With so many producers
of costume jewelry, no uniform batch size was established,
causing supply to vary dramatically according to manufacturer.
Production runs tended to be relatively large for big companies
like Coro and Brooks, producing a larger market supply, and thus
less demand.

As with any product or service, greater demand will always
translate into a higher price. Eisenberg jewelry will likely
always be a hot item in the collectibles market, but be on the
lookout for Miriam Haskell pieces as they are popular at the
moment. Some designs are collectible while others are not.
Learning to tell the difference between the two will ultimately
determine whether collecting is profitable or just a hobby.
Remember, the most popular designs are not necessarily the
prettiest or most unique, but they will be more profitable to
collect. However, demand for a particular piece is stimulated
most often by the actual design of the jewelry.

Collecting vintage costume jewelry for profit is complicated by
the fact that most of the pieces are actually unsigned. Seasoned
collectors will not hesitate to shun a signed piece in favor of
an unsigned one featuring a unique and impressive design, as
unsigned jewelry tends to be undervalued and the most profitable
to collect. One sure way to identify a particular manufacturer
is by design. Some manufacturers consistently produced pieces of
exceptional design and are highly coveted by collectors like
those made by Bogoff and Hollycraft.

Although the design is critical to the overall demand of any
particular piece, the materials and construction techniques used
to make the jewelry ultimately validates or repudiates the
legitimacy of the design. Pay particular attention to the type
and quality of gemstones on any given piece since the stones
will greatly affect value. Gemstones of exceptional quality were
consistently used by a few of the major manufacturers such as:

Bogoff Bergere Weiss Eisenberg

As is the case with any vintage costume piece, final antique
value assessment will ultimately be based upon condition of the
piece. But remember, even vintage pieces showing considerable
signs of wear can still command $100 or more. By knowing what to
look for, seasoned vintage costume or fashion jewelry collectors
can still make great profits even off of slightly damaged or
worn pieces.

Article Source: http://collectibles-articles.com

Jon Kreps is a vintage costume jewelry collector specializing in period sets.

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