First worn by the very rich while they kept their genuine jewels under lock and key, costume jewellery is now highly collectable

WHEN IS A WORK of art more than just a work of art? When it’s a piece of vintage costume jewellery. There has been a phenomenal rise in acquiring old and glamorous beads, bracelets and gems, etc, over the last 20 years, partly on the back of the growing interest in vintage clothing, but also because jewellery has an almost unique place in the sphere of collecting.

“Vintage costume jewellery is very unusual, in that you can wear it but it’s also a piece of art in its own right,” says Monica Turcich, a specialist in costume and design at Christie’s.“It’s more accessible, touchable and wearable than most forms of art, and it’s also practical. Many people don’t have room to store furniture in their home, but they do have room for a necklace.”

In 1995, Christie’s held its first Street Fashion Sale in London which included vintage costume jewellery, with a similar sale in New York the same year, and interest in the subject is such that now it holds two sales annually of 20th century fashion and accessories, as well as single owner auctions. Prices, meanwhile, have risen accordingly.

“A Kenneth Jay Lane floral brooch worth £100 in 1995 would now be worth around £250,” says Turcich. “Essentially, the market has doubled in value in the past 12 years.”

Costume jewellery is nothing new: some Georgian jewellery was made of glass, and such items extend back centuries before that. But the jewellery that is inspiring investors in recent years is almost entirely 20th century in design and came about as a consequence of social upheaval, Hollywood’s influence, the desire for glamour after two world wars and a higher disposable income.

“Until World War I, jewellery had only been a status symbol for the very rich,” says Susan Mundy of Genre Vintage Jewellery. “After the war, jewellery began to be mass produced, which meant that ‘downstairs’ could have jewellery as well as ‘upstairs’. But ‘downstairs’ could not afford precious metals and stones, and so the jewellery produced was made of paste.”

Then French designer Coco Chanel came on the scene and everything changed. “It was Chanel who made wearing costume jewellery acceptable to everyone,” says Turcich. “Aristocrats had always worn copies of their jewels in public while the real thing was locked away in a safe, but by the 1920s and 1930s, people were beginning to wear big, flashy pieces that were not only obviously fake but that were attractive in their own right.”

Simultaneously, the rise of filmmaking made costume jewellery even more popular. “People were impressed by what film stars were wearing in the movies, and so copies began to be mass produced commercially of what had been seen on film,” says Mary Turvil of the specialist vintage jewellery dealers Glitz Guru. “A lot of this, which is now very sought-after, was made by Joseff of Hollywood.” Other clothes designers, as well as Chanel, got in on the act: most of the major designers of the 20th century also produced paste jewellery, which is as sought-after as their clothes.

Vintage costume jewellery can be broken down into numerous categories but buyers tend to divide into two camps: those who are after specific designers and those who want to buy a certain style. For example, one of the most popular designers with collectors today is Miriam Haskell, whose prices have doubled over the last decade and interest in her pieces shows no sign of abating. On the other hand, there are those who are interested in, say, Bakelite jewellery from the 1930s, or white paste (this is very popular for weddings), or perspex flower brooches from the 1950s. There are societies that hold tea dances in 1940s’ dress and need the correct accessories and ditto those with a particular interest in the 1960s.

The field is as varied as it is wide, and so are the prices. Entry level can actually be quite low: according to Mundy, a carved Bakelite bracelet – which would have sold for between 20 cents and $3 when it was first made – could cost as little as £35 now. But for the best pieces the sky is the limit: recently, a Bakelite bracelet sold in the United States for over £1,000. Cocktail jewellery can start as low as £10, but if it is signed prices soar. Vintage Chanel jewellery can be astronomically expensive: as far back as 1987, four Chanel Bakelite bracelets broke all records when they sold for £900 each in the United States. Their value would be considerably higher than that now.

As interest has grown, however, so has the scarcity of the most sought-after pieces. “Jewellery from the 1930s was extremely popular for some time, but it is getting very expensive and increasingly hard to find,” says Mundy. “It comes in two different categories: up to 1935 when it is quite geometrical, and post-1935 when plastics became popular. The other area that is now becoming more popular is the 1950s and 1960s, when cocktail jewellery decorated with rhinestones first caught on in the United States and then over here. The film Breakfast At Tiffany’s had something to do with that. It was elaborate, big jewellery. By the end of the 1960s, the jewellery, reflecting the times, was increasingly space-aged.”

Modern buyers really began to flock to the market in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when, for the first time, art-world insiders began to recognise these pieces as works with an inherent value in their own right, not least because of the care and craftsmanship with which they were made. At the same time, a flood of books about the subject came onto the market, probably the best known of which was Costume Jewelry: The Great Pretenders by Lyngerda Kelley and Nancy Schiffer, which awoke the investing instinct in the buyers and created what is now a collectors’ field in its own right.

To reflect this trend, there has been a huge rise in the number of vintage fashion fairs, where this jewellery is also found. The best advice is to buy a piece in perfect condition, with no missing stones, and if possible, buy something that is signed. Check with the dealer for its authenticity and history. But above all, buy what you like, so that even if it doesn’t rise in value you’ll still be able to wear it for years to come, thereby remaining an investment.

GETTING STARTED

• Read up on the subject: there are many books about vintage costume jewellery on the market. One of the best is Costume Jewellery by Judith Miller, one of the Dorling Kindersley Collector’s Guides.
• Vintage fashion fairs are an excellent place to start looking for costume jewellery. Anita’s Vintage Fashion Fairs (AVFF) organises six such events a year. Find details at www.vintagefashionfairs.com
• Carole Tanenbaum has built up one of the best collections of costume jewellery in North America, and her pieces have been regularly worn by Sex And The City star and style icon Sarah Jessica Parker; www.caroletanenbaum.com
• Good UK sources and reference websites include Genrejewellery.co.uk, Vintagemodes.co.uk and Glitzguru.com

Some costume jewellery names to look out for

• Joseff of Hollywood
• Christian Dior
• Boucher
• Chanel
• Miriam Haskell
• Coro
• Eisenberg
• Hobe
• Kramer
• Trifari
• Weiss
• Vendome