There are several names that may be used interchangeably to describe collectible jewellery, but to experts, collectors, and specialists in the area, each one has a distinct meaning. Knowing these words might help you describe jewellery properly when you are selling it or educate yourself if you regularly buy for collectible items.
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Older Jewellery
According to the US Customs and Border Protection Service, an antique is anything that is at least a century old. Of course, there is an adjustable scale, and as jewellery gets older and older until it’s nearly 100 years old, the more of it may be considered antique.
However, keep in mind that many jewellery dealers and collectors, at least in informal conversation, extend the phrase to cover the 1920s and 1930s as well. These late 1800s earrings with old mine cut diamonds would be regarded as authentic antiques.
Both fine trinkets and costume jewellery fall under this umbrella phrase. Vintage costume jewellery is described as trinkets that are not manufactured with jewels and metals like gold or platinum.
Authentic trinkets
There are many terms for real antiques, especially those that fall under the fine gemstones category. Although some antique gemstones are worth much more than their original value, it isn’t the case with all antique gemstones. The phrase “estate jewellery” once referred to exquisite, expensive Antique jewellery and trinkets.
That is no longer accurate. Estate is just a fancy way of saying “used” these days. This term, like “antique,” can be used to describe both exquisite and inexpensive costume jewellery.
There are many different types and sizes of gems used in antique and vintage trinkets, and both great and costume jewellery incorporate gems. Learn how to distinguish between several types of gems and materials that resemble gemstones, including natural and artificial samples.
Decorative Pearls
This kind of gemstone can be produced or natural, and it can be found in freshwater and saltwater environments. As contrast to creating a flawlessly smooth surface, baroque stones have an irregular texture and an asymmetrical shape.
Although the term “imperfect pearl” is derived from the Italian “barocco” or the Portuguese “barroco,” these gems were quite popular during the Baroque era, the later Renaissance, in addition to the Renaissance Renewal in the middle of the nineteenth century.
Jewellery designers sometimes built complete brooches or pendants in the late 1500s and the beginning of 1600s around a single, enormous baroque stone, employing it to represent the head or torso of a fanciful creature.
This form is referred to by this name for both glass and natural stones that are utilized in costume pieces by artists like Miriam Haskell as well as Coco Chanel. Versions of costume trinkets that cost less money were also produced in plastic and are particularly lightweight.
Blister Pearls
A blister pearl serves as the focal point of this Art Nouveau brooch, which is framed by enamelling with diamond embellishments.
These stones, which are not actual stones but rather a component of the animal’s shell, can be found in freshwater as well as saltwater mollusks, both uncultivated and cultivated. When a particle of mud or another substance acting as a nucleus cling to the interior of a mollusk’s shell, blisters develop.
Since the structure of the nucleus hadn’t been deliberately established, they often have less consistent shapes. The shape of cultured versions can change depending on the geometry of their foundation material since they grow around a nucleus that is bonded to the interior of the shell.
When completely developed, a blister stone and some of the shells are removed. They can occasionally be isolated, much like a mabe pearl. Other times, they are positioned such that the blister is more obviously attached to the shell base, revealing the surrounding natural features and occasionally flaws.
Remember that cultured gems were not widely used in antique jewellery until the 1920s, thus, items from this era are often crafted with natural bubble pearls in lieu of cultured ones.
Artificial Gemstones
Cultured pearls are created by placing anything into an oyster or clam, such as a little piece of shell and even a bead. Click here to read more on cultured pearls. Layer after layer of nacre is organically applied to the invader by the host mollusc over time, just as how real stones are created.
A cultivated stone typically goes through this process over a number of years, although an unprocessed pearl may take up to 10 years to develop. When comparing cultivated pearls to those composed of either plastic or glass with a thin layer of pearl lustre used in costume trinkets, one of the most crucial things to keep in mind is that cultured stones will feel gritty when brushed on your teeth. On the teeth, imitation jewels will feel smooth.
If a pearl has layers that resemble an onion, that is a good indicator that it is cultivated.
Jewellers can achieve this by flashing a light through the stone and using a jeweller’s loupe to examine it, or by using a special scope that is put into the pearl’s hole.
If there are no layers and the centre is solid, the gem is a cultivated pearl. Although this is a technique that can be learned at home, it is advisable to have some instruction from a professional while you are studying to ensure that you do not miss a piece composed of priceless natural pearls.
Aquatic pearls
Freshwater pearls (https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/loupe-advertising-diamond-gemstones-pearls) make up a large portion of the unstructured stones used in vintage jewellery. In actuality, the majority of them are stream pearls that date from the 1800s and later and were discovered in mussels. These pearls’ natural rough form allows creative usage in excellent jewellery creation.
The majority of contemporary freshwater stones are grown in Chinese lakes and ponds. Older, natural river gems are more valuable than newer, more uniformly shaped freshwater pearls. These more recent examples might be used in costume jewellery items that are constructed of non-precious metals like gold-filled and embellished with imitation gemstones.
