So, What IS Vintage, Anyway?

Vintage, Estate, Antique, Junk, Retro, Repro...

 It can get a bit confusing, trying to figure out what you're holding, and what it's worth. Let's start with the basics:

What is Vintage Jewelry?

Vintage Jewelry is jewelry that is more than 20 years old.  This means it was made  before 1991.  Vintage jewelry can be costume, glass, gold, diamond, silver.. anything. It just has to have been manufactured before 1991.

What is Antique Jewelry?

Antique jewelry is jewelry that is at least 100 years old. (Made before 1911) Again, the pieces can be costume, gold, platinum… manufactured by machine or hand made.. the only requirement is 100 years of age. (100 years is a general number, some dealers consider jewelry75 years old to be Antique.)

What is Estate Jewelry?

Estate, technically, means ‘previously owned.’  Jewelry purchased at a local mall, worn once, and then sold to a second hand store can be called ‘estate’.  This is a tricky term!  Reputable dealers and collectors will use the more common and less technical definition:   Jewelry that has been put on the market by representatives of an estate or will.  This doesn’t mean that estate jewelry is antique, either:  it’s quite possible that Great Aunt Sally bought that ring 2 years ago! Just because she was antique, doesn’t mean her jewelry is!

What is Retro Jewelry?

Retro is a term defining a specific era and style of jewelry – the 1920s to the 1940s . It’s also starting to be used to describe vintage pieces that are in the style of an even older era. Confused? Think of it this way: A pin is created in the 1980s, in the antique style of Victorian Mourning Brooches. That pin is over 20 years old, so it’s Vintage… and it’s in the style of the 1800s, so it’s Retro- Victorian.  Not everyone uses this term correctly, so it there’s any doubt at all, ask the dealer exactly when the piece was created.