Many people who collect vintage jewelry are looking for the sparkle and fire of rhinestones jewelry. The glitzy jools from the 1950s and 1960s was the height of this type of production. But if you are a true connoisseur of vintage jewelry, you should also check out vintage plastics.
When one thinks plastic, one might think cheap. But think again. There is a whole range of materials in the vintage plastic jewelry category and they are well made and very pretty, since they come in a wide range of colors and can be molded into really lovely shapes.
Vintage plastics also lend themselves readily to being molded into interesting figural shapes, such as this adorable old plastic sailor man pin from West Germany. Can't you just see him on the lapel of a black jacket? And more more thing - vintage plastics are normally light and are therefore just perfect for summer fashions which, by nature, are thinner and lighter in weight.
Vintage plastics is a generic term for a wide variety of materials. Bakelite is one popular material that comes to mind, but there are many other types that are also highly collectible. Celluloid, Thermoset, moonglow lucite, normal lucite, featherlite, crackle lucite. The possibilities are endless and the plastic components are anything but uninspiring. Some of the beads used in the lucite beaded earrings from Japan, Hong Kong and Germany are so artful and lovely.
Here are some pictures of interesting vintage plastic jewelry, just to whet your appetite. All of my online stores have a big range of other styles too, so be sure to visit the links at the top right hand side of this page to see my whole selection.
When one thinks plastic, one might think cheap. But think again. There is a whole range of materials in the vintage plastic jewelry category and they are well made and very pretty, since they come in a wide range of colors and can be molded into really lovely shapes.
Vintage plastics also lend themselves readily to being molded into interesting figural shapes, such as this adorable old plastic sailor man pin from West Germany. Can't you just see him on the lapel of a black jacket? And more more thing - vintage plastics are normally light and are therefore just perfect for summer fashions which, by nature, are thinner and lighter in weight.
Vintage plastics is a generic term for a wide variety of materials. Bakelite is one popular material that comes to mind, but there are many other types that are also highly collectible. Celluloid, Thermoset, moonglow lucite, normal lucite, featherlite, crackle lucite. The possibilities are endless and the plastic components are anything but uninspiring. Some of the beads used in the lucite beaded earrings from Japan, Hong Kong and Germany are so artful and lovely.
Here are some pictures of interesting vintage plastic jewelry, just to whet your appetite. All of my online stores have a big range of other styles too, so be sure to visit the links at the top right hand side of this page to see my whole selection.
All of the pieces shown here are available from my Vintage Jewelry Lane online store. Just click the photos to go to the listing page for more details. Prices range from $9.99 to $32.99. I also have a more lengthy article on vintage plastics in the resource library at Vintage Jewelry Lane.
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