Today's Vintage Jewelry Word - Torsade

Today's vintage jewelry word is torsade - pronounced TORE -SAHD. Literally, torsade is a French word that means twisting of the points.

In jewelry design, the word is used for a design which has many strands of pearls, glass, or beads pulled together at a single clasp to form a very thick piece of jewelry. Sometimes the strands are twisted, almost in a braided style, and sometimes they just hang loosely in a bunch. Some designs will use a larger focal beads somewhere on the piece to give some extra detail and dimension.

The design technique is mainly used in the construction of necklaces, but I have also seen bracelets and earrings with the same technique. The finished product often has a Bohemian retro look to it. Torsade necklaces were very popular in the 1970s and continue in today's jewelry designs.

Here are a few examples of torsade necklaces and bracelets, showing both the tight twisted effect and the loose style of design.

What do you think of the look?

Today's Vintage Jewelry Color - A girl's gotta have pink!

It's a girly color. All little girls love it, and we felt like young princesses when we wore it. As teens, it made us feel special and a bit "prissy," and as we age it makes us feel young again.

There are so many shades of this romantic color. The palest of pastel pinks will take us back to those moments of the pretty princess days. Bright and dark pink makes us remember the vibrant days of our teen years when we wanted to make a statement. And a combination of the various shades just makes us feel feminine.

So, let's take a step back in time and relive those days. These are some current offerings in our online shops. You can click any of the photos for more details. Prices range from $12.99 for the Trifari oval pale pink clip earrings, to $76 for the fabulous Kenneth Jay Lane pink rhinestone flower brooch.

And always remember...a girl's never to old to wear pink!

Jewelry Find of the Week - Matisse Renoir Demi called "Laurel"

I adore copper jewelry. It is right up their in my list of favorite materials, along with sterling silver. And collectors of vintage costume jewelry are well aquainted with the designs of the California designer Renoir.

This fabulous Demi paure by Renoir is called Laurel and is just stunning and in wonderful condition. The design features pure white enamel on the lower layer of copper leaves and a top layer of the most detailed smaller leaves.

The design came in all color combinations but this one is just perfect for summer. It would look wonderful on just about any color outfit.

The fabulous Matisse Renoir copper demi parure is available in my Vintage Jewelry Lane store this week for $105.99. It is signed on all pieces Matisse Renoir.

Renoir was a California Company who manufactured between 1946 and 1964. They specialized in solid copper jewelry of the Arts and Crafts style. The pieces are distinctive with superior designs and of very high quality. Matisse was a subsidiary company which was established in 1952 - often using copper with colorful enamel as this design shows. All Renoir jewelry is popular but Matisse Renoir pieces are very highly collectible and much sought after.

Dog Jewelry - You aren't barking up the wrong tree here

Figural jewelry is so much fun. It can be styled in all sorts of shapes, from bugs through to novelty styles.

But nothing is more fun for a collector who is a pet lover than dog jewelry. Most of the well known vintage jewelry had figural dog designs as a part of their range, so the choice of it is quite varied and in all price ranges.

Some pieces are just generic designs - sort of a "bitsa" dog jewelry piece, but others are made to look exactly like specific breeds of dogs, so they particularly appeal to collectors who also happen to have that type of dog as a pet.

Dog figural jewelry comes in all types of construction - plain goldtone and silvertone brushed metal, rhinestone styles and enamel can all be used. And the styles vary too. Many are brooches or pins, but dog jewelry also comes in earrings, bracelets, necklaces and hair jewelry.

Here are some cute styles for all the dog lovers out there. Pieces are all available in my online stores. Just click the pictures for more details. Prices range from $9.99 to $19.99. And the selection shows the diversity of dog styles available - from Scotties, Pekingese, Poodle, Bulldog and Dalmation just being a few choices.

Vintage Plastic Jewelry - Perfect for Spring and Summer Fashions!

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.

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.