My Vintage Costume Jewelry

Vintage and antique costume jewelry has so much more workmanship than newer costume jewelry. Many of the pieces, such as the one shown in the intro photo, look like pieces of fine jewelry.

This necklace is crafted of sterling silver, as were many costume jewelry pieces in the early 1900s. At that time, silver was an inexpensive metal. The red "stone" in this piece is just nicely cut glass. The setting makes it look as if it is an important piece.

Many people have recognized the quality of old costume jewelry and the pieces have a high value today. Before you give away or put your old jewelry out at a tag sale, do a little research on the value. You may be very surprised.

Wightman & Hough was in business from 1856 to 1922. They are known primarily for their lockets although they made other pieces. Some were gold, some silver, some brass. Their hallmark is the W&H Co. mark.

This piece belonged to my great aunt and has a picture of my grandmother (her sister) in it. The front has her initials in it, which I find hard to discern. Her initials were S.F. or S.F.J. after she was married.

Although, it is not marked, It is probably made of brass with a gold overlay judging from the worn areas of the locket.

Before you buy or sell costume jewelry, know its value. - You would be surprised what the pieces of jewelry you have tucked away in a dresser drawer are worth.

Do you see the wavy lines in the locket? This is guilloche.

Guilloche is a process where the same pattern is repeatedly etched. Very often you will see guilloche on a watch face or a better pen barrel. United States currency has a guilloche pattern in the background to make it harder to counterfeit.

On the case of this locket from the 1940s, the guilloche pattern is on the metal underlay and then there is enameling and a transparent layer above it. The metal is probably brass.

This is called a "book locket" due to its shape and the way it opens like a book. I believe my locket is made of brass. This same locket was also made in silver, however, those are stamped "Sterling" on the back. This one has no markings.

I don't know when our family acquired this piece. I do know that as a very young child, I was given it to play with and stash in my little jewelry box.

Called a "clip" as it "clips" on instead of pinning.

This clip has no markings on it. It could be silver as it has a somewhat tarnished appearance. It also has no hallmark.

The stones are "paste" --they are glued in and as you can see one of the red stones is missing.

Garnets are the birthstone of January.

The "Bohemian garnet" as it was called in the Victorian era, is really a pyrope.

In this brooch we see the stones are prong set with the prongs part of the design. Again we see that rich dark red so popular in this era. This piece was my grandmother's.

Garnet jewelry of this era may vary widely in price. The beauty or intracacy of the piece may add to the price as may the base metal.

The pin has no hallmark and is probably made of brass.