Determining the Age of Jewellery

When reciving a new shipment of vintage jewellery the ability to age the pieces (approximately) is quite important. People will probably not expect to know that a particular piece was made in 1959 on October 21st but thay will want to know if it is a 1940s or a 1960 piece.

What classes as vintage?

Generally items that are 20 years old or more are classed as vintage, whereas items need to be 100 years old to class as antique.
This means items from 1920 all the way to the early 1990 are vintage items. I don't normally class something as vintage unless in is 1980s of before - but some pieces from the 1990s are already very collectable.

The first step in determining age, is the source. If I buy an estate lot - I ask how many generations of jewellery I am dealing with, this gives me a clus as to the age range of the pieces.

The jewellery itself - the clasp type, or earring backs also provide a wealth of clues as to its age.  hook clasps were common in the 1950s and 1960s, whereas barrel clasps were porular in the 1930s and have stayed popular.

Barrel Clasp

Hook Clasp

More next time....