Antique Sage

1980s & 1990s Vintage Jewelry – Millennium Chic

A huge 22.4 carat precious topaz gemstone dominates this gorgeous 18 karat yellow gold pendant from the late 1970s. 1980s and 1990s vintage jewelry is widely celebrated for its chunky, eye-catching appearance.

Collecting 1980s and 1990s vintage jewelry is one of the most exciting and rapidly growing trends in the antique jewelry trade. And yet this era of jewelry remains largely undiscovered, resulting in some of the greatest bargains in the entire old jewelry market.

Let’s start our journey with a relevant anecdote.

I first began collecting vintage jewelry in the late 1980s. During that time, I distinctly remember buying a book that solemnly declared 1940s Retro jewelry to be the latest addition to the pantheon of vintage jewelry styles. Antique jewelry aficionados had fallen in love with Retro jewelry’s bold styling, massive semi-precious gemstones and lavish use of multi-colored gold. On the other hand, post-1950 jewelry was considered much too recent for serious connoisseurs to bother with.

But this got me thinking.

If World War II era jewelry was called Retro, what would later jewelry be called? At that point in time, it was generally called contemporary or modern jewelry. These were boring, generic labels meant to be said with a sneer and barely concealed contempt.

But I knew that all that 1950s and 1960s jewelry would eventually age into proper vintage pieces that would turn heads and wow experts and novices alike. This is despite the fact that no one paid much attention to them at the time.

This conundrum bothered me off and on for the next few decades.

Ironically, it turned out that naming the dominant jewelry style of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s was deceptively simple – just call it Mid-Century Modern (or Mid-Century for short). The name was already widely used to describe that period’s architecture, furniture and art, so why not its jewelry as well? It was a natural fit.

A much harder task lay ahead though.

Vintage jewelry crafted in the late 1970s, 1980s and 1990s loomed large on the horizon. It was an era of extravagant wealth, obscene excess and outrageous glam culture. But what should we call jewelry from this remarkable period in modern history?

Welcome to Millennium era jewelry!

Why did I choose to call it that? Well, there are a few reasons.

Spanning the time period from circa 1975 to the year 2000, the movement encompassed the final decades before the turn of the millennium. It is also something of a nod to the Millennial generation, which was born during the 1980s and 1990s. Lastly, the name is evocative of the flashy designs and vibrant colors often found in jewelry of this fin de siècle era.

Millennium jewelry is often characterized by simple yet bold geometric shapes and a vivid approach to the use of color – so much so that it often bears a strong resemblance to jewelry from the Art Deco period of the 1920s. In fact, it isn’t uncommon to find online listings of 1980s and 1990s vintage jewelry described as being “Art Deco style” or “Art Deco inspired” or even just “Art Deco”!

Perhaps the biggest difference between Art Deco jewelry and Millennium jewelry is that the edges and corners of the latter are often slightly rounded or melted in appearance. Imagine microwaving a stick of frozen butter for a minute. The core of the butter will still be frozen solid, but the edges and corners would be rounded and soft. So if you see round corners and melted edges on a piece of otherwise geometric vintage jewelry, it is almost certainly from the 1980s or 1990s.

It might seem like a small thing at first that Millennium era jewelry and Art Deco jewelry share a common look. But Art Deco jewelry is currently one of the most desirable and popular antique jewelry styles in the market. And in my opinion, 1980s and 1990s vintage jewelry is the clear spiritual successor to Art Deco jewelry.

But Millennium era jewelry was more than just streamlined geometry and bold angles.

It also didn’t shy away from more rounded, organic shapes, especially as the 1980s transitioned into the 1990s. In this regard, it shares a lot in common with Modernist jewelry. Modernism was a contemporaneous jewelry style that exerted strong influence over the more mainstream Millennium style. Indeed, it wouldn’t be amiss to say that a lot of Millennium era jewelry is often just a slightly more conservative version of Modernist jewelry.

1980s and 1990s vintage jewelry also drew inspiration from wildly different time periods and styles. There was a revival of neo-Victorian style jewelry, along with neo-Etruscan and neo-Assyrian design during this time. Modern cameos rendered in archaic or ancient styles were quite common as a result.

In fact, ancient art, coinage and jewelry became major sources of inspiration during the Millennium era. This was perhaps most obvious with Bulgari’s Monete line of jewelry, which featured genuine ancient Greek and Roman coins mounted in modern yellow gold settings.

What the makes 1980s and 1990s so special? – A short cultural history

The Millennium epoch represented an absolutely iconic time in modern history. The closing decades of the 20th century were a time of overwhelming optimism and exuberance after the malaise of the 1970s.

The era kicked off with Manhattan’s infamous Studio 54 – a late 1970s nightclub of almost unimaginable debauchery that attracted the highest luminaries of the age. Drugs, nudity, alcohol and sex were common features of the hedonistic hotspot. Beetle’s member John Lennon, artist Andy Warhol, Queen front man Freddie Mercury, fashion designer Calvin Klein, Rolling Stone’s lead singer Mick Jagger and real estate mogul Donald Trump were just a few of the celebrities who attended this most desirable of New York party destinations.

For those of you who are interested in learning more about the history of Studio 54, I’ve embedded an excellent YouTube video on the subject below:

The 1980s was a golden age of American culture in particular and Western culture more generally. This apogee of cultural self-confidence was really only rivaled in the 20th century by the decade of the 1950s and perhaps the 1920s.

Indeed, Americans during the 1980s were absolutely fascinated by the 1950s. This is obvious from blockbuster movies such as Back to the Future (1985), Dead Poets Society (1989) and Stand by Me (1986). Although all released during the 1980s, each of these films explored themes and settings from the 1950s.

I believe that 1980s society was so obsessed with the 1950s because the average American subconsciously understood that these two decades represented parallel cultural pinnacles. This is such a rare occurrence that it has probably only happened a handful of times throughout human history. And the fact that these cultural zeniths were separated by only a single generation simply increased the already overwhelming attraction.

U.S. cultural dominance during the closing decades of the 20th century is best exemplified by the absurd number of iconic songs and movies that were produced during this relatively short period.

It was the time of superstar musical artists such as Madonna (her first album debuted in 1983), Michael Jackson (1979 for his break through solo album Off the Wall), Prince (1978), Whitney Houston (1985) and Bon Jovi (1984). The 1990s continued the trend with the rise of Nirvana (1989), Snoop Dogg (1993), Pearl Jam (1991) and Guns & Roses (1987), among others.

On the movie side of the equation, The Terminator (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), the Indiana Jones trilogy (1981 – 1989) and the original Star Wars trilogy (1977 – 1983) were all outstanding gems. The 1990s then gave us such hallowed works as Pulp Fiction (1994), Forest Gump (1994), Groundhog Day (1993), American Beauty (1999) and the Matrix (1999).

Not everything was multi-colored jubilance during the Millennium era, however.

The late 1970s and 1980s were a time of extreme international tension due to the Cold War. The Cold War was the ideological stand-off between the United States and its allies, representing the capitalist block, and the Soviet Union and its satellites, representing Marxist thought. The Cold War played out in endless espionage, foreign conflicts and diplomatic disputes between the two sides. European capitals such as Berlin, Helsinki and Vienna became infamous for their dangerous cloak and dagger spy games.

Fears of nuclear annihilation were a very real, everyday specter during this time. This reality injected terrible anxiety into ordinary life, but also had the perverse effect of encouraging many people to live each day to its fullest.

Fears of nuclear extinction eased considerable in the autumn of 1989 when revolutions in Eastern Europe’s Soviet-backed Warsaw Pact members restored democratic governments to those countries for the first time since before World War II. The tide of potential nuclear war receded even further after the Soviet Union disintegrated in December 1991.

The inexorable rise of Wall Street and other financial centers was another trend that heavily influenced Millennium era culture. New York, Tokyo and London developed into massive international financial hubs where huge sums of money were raised, bet, won and lost with stunning speed.

Major financial innovations during this period included exchange traded stock options, junk bonds and the securitization of debt securities, to name just a few. These inventions were enormously influential in their time, often leading to massive fortunes being minted (or squandered) practically overnight.

The party almost ended when a synchronized, global stock market crash unfolded on October 19, 1987. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its largest ever one day drop on that date, falling by a stunning -22.6%. However, markets largely recovered within a few months with no long term economic consequences.

Tokyo was the financial darling of the 1980s due to Japan’s enormous combination stock and real estate bubble during that decade. The Japanese stock market bubble ultimately burst on the last trading day of 1989, allowing New York and London to jointly pick up the bull market baton in the 1990s. This culminated in the absurdly euphoric NASDAQ Dot Com bubble that peaked in March of 2000 before messily deflating.

The 1987 movie Wall Street’s rapacious main character Gordon Gekko really set the mood for the era when he said “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” So many people at the time believed him that the movie quote launched a thousand investment banking careers.

The 1980s and 1990s were also notable for the rise of consumer electronics during that period. Sony’s signature Walkman portable cassette player first debuted in 1979, quickly becoming a must have device for millions of on-the-go music lovers. Personal computers also originated in the 1970s, but only really hit their stride in the 1980s. Laptops following soon after, becoming well known by the late 1990s.

But perhaps the best loved of all Millennium era consumer electronics was the VHS cassette with its accompanying VCR and camcorder devices. These inventions brought films, TV shows and home movies to households all over the world, assuming you could afford them!

Why should you collect 1980s & 1990s vintage jewelry?

Millennium era jewelry has a number of tremendously desirable attributes beyond just its cultural or historical importance, however.

1980s & 1990s vintage jewelry is still relatively available in today’s marketplace at reasonable prices. The importance of this fact is impossible to overstate. Most older styles of antique jewelry long ago disappeared into strong hands – dedicated collectors who will not sell these quality pieces without receiving a fair (and high) price.

As a result, nearly all pre-1960 jewelry styles, including Edwardian, Art Nouveau, Mid-Century, Retro and especially Art Deco, have spiraled upward in price over the past decade. The lockdowns and inflation associated with the early 2020’s COVID pandemic put the proverbial icing on the cake here. In some instances, antique jewelry prices shot up by as much as 40% or 50% nearly overnight.

But 1980s and 1990s vintage jewelry is recent enough that material coming out of current estate liquidations is still plentiful.

On the demand side, few old jewelry collectors have warmed to the idea that Millennium jewelry is genuinely “vintage enough” yet. This is in spite of the fact that even the most recent examples of Millennium era jewelry are 25 years old – easily meeting even the most stringent definition of the term “vintage”. The oldest pieces hail from circa 1975 and are fully half a century old at this point. So it is utterly impossible to argue they aren’t legitimately vintage.

Photo Credit: TreasureHuntingSpot

1980s and 1990s vintage jewelry is renowned for its bold styling, as shown by this handmade sterling silver lioness statement pendant set with ruby eyes.

Another reason to adore 1980s & 1990s vintage jewelry is because of its use of high quality materials. The final decades of the 20th century was a rather prosperous time in the West. This meant that Millennium jewelry tended to rely on expensive precious metals and gemstones in ways that more recent styles of jewelry don’t.

For example, yellow gold was a mainstay of 1970s and 1980s jewelry. It was not unusual for pieces from that time to be fabricated from large and heavy 14 or 18 karat gold settings. Platinum then made a resurgence in the 1990s for higher end pieces, with mixed yellow gold and platinum or simply all platinum settings abounding. These metals might be polished to a mirror-like brilliance, hammered to dulcet facets or brushed to a velvety satin sheen – anything went.

Of course, fine Millennium era jewelry can certainly be found in sterling silver or mixed silver and yellow gold, especially pieces from the 1990s. But you are much more likely to come across silver in fine Modernist jewelry of the period. There can be considerable crossover between the two styles, though.

It is also noteworthy that fine 1980s and 1990s vintage jewelry is often set with very valuable precious and semi-precious gemstones.

The Big Four gems – diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds – got a lot of play during this time. In fact, the Millennium era was the last time jewelry frequently sported rubies, sapphires and emeralds in profusion. Due to the ever escalating cost of the Big Four gemstones in the modern world, it is highly unlikely we will ever see them casually deployed in mainstream fine jewelry again. This prediction excludes white diamonds, however, which are significantly more common than their colored Big Four counterparts.

But more than just the Big Four gems were mounted in vintage Millennium era jewelry; almost every gemstone type imaginable was used in addition.

1980s & 1990s Vintage Hardstone Bead Necklaces for Sale on eBay

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This means second tier gems like tourmaline, jade (both jadeite and nephrite), topaz, aquamarine, zircon, tanzanite and fancy garnet (primarily green tsavorite and orange Spessartite) were also happily embraced. These somewhat less expensive stones were often given a checkerboard cut, which is a surefire indicator that the gem in question is from the 1990s.

Organic gems such as coral, pearls, mother of pearl and amber found favor as well. And when gemstones wouldn’t give the right effect or were too expensive, enameling was a common alternative technique that imparted huge expanses of vivid color very cheaply.

Second-tier gemstones were often liberally sprinkled onto fine Millennium jewelry designs with little regard for cost. Anything that gave a vibrant, interesting and colorful visual effect was readily employed.

It helped that these stones were much less expensive in the late 20th century compared to today. Back then, an adventuresome jeweler willing to spend a mere $50 to $100 at wholesale prices could procure a veritable treasure trove of second-tier gems to craft into a masterpiece. This allowed ample opportunity to mark up the resulting piece of jewelry while still keeping the final price reasonable to the retail buyer.

The 1980s also saw the rise of third-tier gems for even less expensive, mass produced fine jewelry. These “Little Five” gemstones – amethyst, citrine, blue topaz, peridot and red garnet – were cheap, abundant and spectacularly colorful. This allowed them to be used in a wide range of boldly designed, but lower priced fine jewelry that demanded calibrated cuts.

Calibrated gems are stones cut to the exact same shape and size for mounting in standardized settings – for example, a lot of 7mm x 5mm oval cut amethysts. Necklaces and tennis bracelets were favorite destinations for these cheaper, third-tier calibrated stones due to the high carat weight and uniform color/clarity match that was often required in these jewelry types.

Mass produced fine jewelry laden with cheap calibrated cut gems was commonly retailed in major department stores such as Macy’s, J.C. Penney’s, Filene’s or Kaufmann’s. I generally recommend that collectors avoid buying these cheaper varieties of 1980s and 1990s vintage jewelry if future price appreciation is important.

Characteristics of Millennium era vintage jewelry

The Millennium era features bold and sophisticated statement pieces that appeal to a wide range of old jewelry buffs.

Dichromatic jewelry designs were immensely trendy during the early part of the Millennium era. Dichromatic refers to any two colors used in combination to create a striking, high contrast effect. Some examples include onyx and yellow gold, lapis lazuli and yellow gold, pearls and yellow gold and diamonds and yellow gold. Dichromatic jewelry design reached the peak of its popularity during the 1980s, but gradually fell out of favor during the 1990s.

The explosive use of color was also a prime characteristic of 1980s and 1990s vintage jewelry alongside dichromaticism. Pastels, primaries and neons were all on the menu, with any and all hues welcome. This trend was reflected in the prodigious and unrestrained use of colored gemstones during the period.

It was not unusual to see several different types of colored gems boldly mounted right beside each other in the same piece. In extreme cases, Millennium era pieces have a stunning visual quality that is reminiscent of Cartier’s Mughal Indian inspired Tutti Frutti jewelry of the 1920s and 1930s. This has helped to reinforce the perception of Millennium jewelry as having an Art Deco vibe.

Photo Credit: JewelryAuthority

This stunning onyx and 14 karat gold hardstone bead necklace, circa 1990, is a great example of dichromatic design in Millennium jewelry.

One frequently encountered type of 1980s and 1990s vintage jewelry is hardstone bead necklaces and bracelets. These were typically crafted from carnelian, onyx, chalcedony, chrysoprase or jade, often interspersed with solid karat yellow gold spacers or melon beads between them. Non-hardstone lapis lazuli, malachite, coral, amber and turquoise beads were also frequently used in much the same way to the same effect.

These semi-precious gemstone and gold beads created a big, dazzling look in a very cost effective manner. Surprisingly, many 1980s and 1990s vintage hardstone bead necklaces and bracelets can still be found under $500 today.

Another type of jewelry that was extraordinarily popular during the 1980s was clip-on earrings. These earrings would typically be worn by women who didn’t have pierced ears. However, they could also be worn by those who did, but didn’t want the extra weight of a particularly bold and heavy pair of earrings to stretch their earlobes. This made clip-on earrings a versatile and perennial favorite during the Millennium era.

Everything from cheap fashion earrings to gem-studded solid karat earrings were made in the clip-on format during this time. Regardless of how much they cost, they were almost always large, eye-catching and flashy. Hoop, half-hoop, oval, circle and other geometric motif designs were prevalent – the bigger, the better.

Clip-on earrings mounted with pearls or mabé pearls were especially common during this time. Mabé pearls are an inexpensive type of large, domed, button-shaped cultured pearl.

Although the popularity of clip-on earrings declined markedly starting in the early 1990s, they still continued to be made right up until the present. However, it is much more common for clip-ons to be found among fast fashion jewelry these days rather than fine jewelry.

Fine Vintage Millennium Era Clip-on Earrings under $1,000 for Sale on eBay

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When looking to buy vintage 1980s clip-on earrings there are a couple pitfalls to look out for. First, make sure that you aren’t looking at a pair of omega back earrings that has had the posts removed, thus turning them into modified clip-ons. These modifications destroy the collectible value of the piece.

Happily, the removal of omega back earring posts can easily be discovered by turning the piece over and closely inspecting its back.

Second, be aware that screw-back earrings, while definitely vintage, cannot be from the 1980s or 1990s. Screw-backs were popular from the 1920s through the 1960s, but died out during the early 1970s. So you won’t find any of them produced after that decade. There is no such thing as vintage Millennium era screw-back earrings – at least not that I’ve seen.

The late 1970s and 1980s period also saw the rise of individual artists who marketed their products under their own names. This was a new feature of the jewelry market specific to that time. Previously, higher-end jewelers had typically acted as wholesalers, distributing their items through luxury houses under contract. So before the 1970s you would typically see a hallmark for Tiffany & Co. or Cartier – the jewelry retailer, but not necessarily the actual designer or creator of the piece.

All that changed with the explosion of smaller jewelry artist-retailers who both made and sold their works directly to the public. Famous makers of 1980s and 1990s vintage jewelry included Verdura, Elizabeth Locke, Marina B, SeidenGang and Elizabeth Gage, to name just a few. Unfortunately, most of the vintage pieces from these artists will run you thousands of dollars on the secondary market.

In stark contrast to this is work by prominent designer David Yurman. His immensely popular vintage gemstone terminated cable bracelets and other mixed sterling and solid karat gold jewelry can often be found for well under $1,000.

Photo Credit: TimelessGems925

Vibrantly colored gemstones, like the pink tourmaline terminals on this classic David Yurman cable bracelet, are a hallmark of Millennium era jewelry.

Of course, the big luxury houses like Van Cleef & Arpels, Buccellati, Tiffany & Co., Boucheron, Cartier, Bulgari and Harry Winston also produced very fine high end jewelry in the 1980s and 1990s. But be prepared to open your pocketbook if you want any of their vintage creations. Prices for their goods generally start in the multi-thousand dollar range and quickly rise from there.

What should you look for if you want to invest in 1980s & 1990s vintage jewelry?

Tip #1: Gems, gems, gems!

First, consider pieces that contain Big Four gemstones (ruby, sapphire, emerald and diamond), assuming you can find them at a reasonable price. Fine colored gems have been getting progressively more difficult to find and mine successfully. This has caused prices for rubies, sapphires and emeralds to skyrocket over the past several decades.

And the trend looks nowhere close to changing in the near term.

White diamonds, although substantially more common than the colored members of the Big Four, are still highly desirable when mounted in Millennium era jewelry. They are generally larger in size than diamonds you will find in comparably priced contemporary jewelry. And you are also assured that the diamonds in your 1980s or 1990s jewelry will be natural, earth-mined stones. Synthetic diamonds didn’t really start showing up in jewelry until the early 2000s.

Don’t forget second tier colored stones either. High quality tourmalines, fancy garnets, aquamarines and topazes – to name just a few – represent compelling value when set in fine 1980s or 1990s vintage jewelry.

Whichever colored stones you gravitate towards in 1980s &1990s vintage jewelry, make certain they are transparent and without too many flaws. Mass produced fine jewelry of this period sometimes used lower quality rubies, emeralds and sapphires, in particular. These low quality gems will be opaque or translucent at best; they should be avoided under all circumstances.

Tip #2: Get chunky and bold!

Vintage Millennium era jewelry is your chance to release your inner wild child!

Millennium fashion was all about flair. Big, assertive and glamorous pieces were in vogue. Yellow gold was dominant for the first 15 years of that period, with platinum and silver growing in popularity after 1990. The overall size of jewelry tended to diminish somewhat during the 1990s. But individual pieces remained striking in appearance, even if somewhat smaller in dimension.

If you are a lover of over-the-top, vintage statement jewelry, then the Millennium era is for you. It’s still possible for an average person to acquire large, showy examples of fine Millennium jewelry that would be completely unaffordable from earlier Art Deco or Retro periods. Buy now, before everyone else figures out how amazing 1980s and 1990s vintage jewelry really is!

Vintage Millennium Era David Yurman Jewelry for Sale on eBay

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Tip #3: Shop the bargain rack!

Fine Millennium vintage jewelry is incredibly undervalued right now. It is possible to find a good selection of pieces priced for less than $1,000 and occasionally even under $500. And remember that I’m talking about examples crafted from solid 14 karat gold, 18 karat gold or platinum.

Don’t be afraid to go down market with your 1980s and 1990s vintage jewelry purchase. Because it isn’t widely recognized yet, superb specimens can sometimes be picked up for surprisingly little money. If you’re willing to search diligently, even as little as $300 or $400 will sometimes get you a gem of a piece!

In any case, the AntiqueSage rule of thumb for buying vintage jewelry according to intrinsic value applies here. If a gem-set, karat gold or platinum piece costs less than 2x intrinsic value, then it is almost certainly a good deal. This means anything under about $100 per gram is worthwhile.

Tip #4: Beads are best!

As previously mentioned, hardstone bead necklaces and bracelets represent some of the best value in vintage Millennium era jewelry at the moment. Just a few hundred dollars will get you a beautiful example of 1980s hardstone bead jewelry, trimmed out with solid karat gold spacer beads!

Hardstone bead jewelry was so emblematic of the era that it is a little dumbfounding as to why it is so cheap right now. The only potential answer to this conundrum is that wild and bold beads are…out of fashion?

That doesn’t sound right.

Anyway, who cares why they are cheap? All that matters is that some chump is selling grandma’s bewitching 1980s onyx bead necklace and you can scoop it up for a criminally low price!

My prime tip here is to look for examples that are knotted between each individual bead. This is not only a sign of quality, but ensures you cannot lose more than a single bead if the necklace or bracelet ever breaks. It also prevents the beads from wearing on each other to the detriment of the gemstone material.

This preference for individually knotted beads does not apply to gold or silver spacer beads. These relatively soft metals will not damage any adjacent hardstone beads. As a result, it is normal for metal beads not to be individually knotted.

A bonus tip for hardstone bead necklaces or bracelets is to inspect the clasp closely. The clasp is often a giveaway as to the piece’s overall quality level. More expensive specimens usually have fancier clasps, sometimes set with diamonds, rubies or other expensive stones. In contrast, a very simple clasp is generally a sign of mid-tier construction.

Tip #5: Brooches for the win!

Brooches are one of the great unsung bargains of the vintage jewelry market. They can usually be purchased for significantly less, gram for gram, than comparable rings, necklaces, bracelets or earrings. The reason for this is simple; brooches are out of fashion at the moment.

However, this fashion refugee status may slowly be beginning to change for the better.

Brooches are riveting in the context of 1980s and 1990s vintage jewelry because this was the last time period where they were commonly produced, sold and worn. So there are significant numbers of Millennium era brooches on offer in the market today, often at very attractive prices.

If you are interested in learning more about antique brooches, I wrote an article titled “Antique Brooches & Pins – A Dazzling Past” that delves further into the topic.

So there you have it – everything you ever wanted to know about 1980s and 1990s vintage jewelry. If you love antique and vintage jewelry like I do, you’ll adore everything the Millennium era has to offer!

Read more thought-provoking Antique Sage gems & jewelry articles here.

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Read in-depth Antique Sage vintage jewelry investment guides here.

Vintage Japanese Jewelry – Big in Japan

Vintage Japanese jewelry – like this elegant 1980s platinum, gold, sapphire and diamond brooch by Ito Hiroaki – is quickly finding an enthusiastic audience among jewelry lovers.

Vintage Japanese jewelry is sometimes overlooked by fine jewelry connoisseurs. I should know because for a long time I was one of the collectors doing the overlooking. Then, as I was browsing eBay a few months ago I unexpectedly fell in love. I had stumbled upon an exquisite 1980s Japanese brooch of superb workmanship and quality.

But before I talk about that, let’s take a brief detour through the history of Japanese jewelry.

For most of its history, Japan did not have jewelry in a modern sense. They did have ornamental objects crafted from precious materials, but these were nearly always functional items that had evolved to take on a broader prestige role in society. Examples include women’s hair pins and hair combs, koshirae (samurai sword fittings) and inro (hard-cased wallets meant to be worn with a kimono). Western jewelry forms such as earrings, pendants, bracelets or rings were nearly unknown in Japan during this time.

All of this changed once Japan ended feudalism and opened up to the broader world after the 1850s. The island nation was suddenly flooded with foreign ideas and influences. Western style jewelry was one of these new concepts. And although it took a few decades to get started, by the late 19th century Japanese craftsman had begun experimenting with jewelry as we understand it today.

The house of Mikimoto is perhaps the best known creator of vintage Japanese jewelry. Its founder, Kikuchi Mikimoto, created the first cultured pearl in 1893. He then opened a retail shop to sell his pearl jewelry in 1900. He also sent his artisans to Europe to study the latest advancements in jewelry making styles and techniques. His eponymous firm quickly became the largest pearl jewelry company in the world.

Japanese militarism in the 1930s and then World War II in the 1940s largely interrupted jewelry production, making Japanese pieces from this time period scarce. Likewise, Japan was still recovering from the devastation of the war throughout the 1950s. As a result, fine jewelry production at scale only really resumed in the 1960s, accelerating dramatically during the 1970s and 1980s to match the red-hot Japanese economy of the time. Therefore, most of the vintage Japanese jewelry you will find in the marketplace today dates from the 1960s or later.

In addition to Mikimoto, there are a handful of other well known vintage Japanese jewelry houses. Founded in 1954, Tasaki is a pearl-centric firm that produces excellent quality jewelry. Kyoto based atelier Niwaka has been creating treasures in gold and gemstones since 1983. Japanese Jeweler Ponte Vecchio had its origins in 1981 and is best known for its delicate, playful style.

There are also a number of smaller independent Japanese jewelry studios in addition to those listed above. A short (but not exhaustive) list of these artistic luminaries includes: Nobuko Ishikawa, Ito Hiroaki, Sachi Fukuhara, Koji Iwakura, Shunichi Tamura, Keiko Ikeda, Mitsuo Kaji and Ayano Kanazawa. Vintage jewelry produced by these independents will tend to be a bit more adventuresome compared to the larger Japanese jewelry firms.

Japanese craftsmen are renowned as masters of the miniature, possessing excellent attention to detail. This defining national characteristic is reflected in their jewelry making, which is often both precise in execution and striking in design. In any case, Japanese fine jewelry is almost always of the highest quality, with clean metal work and quality materials.

Organic or natural themes – leaves, flowers, insects, fruits, animals, etc. – are ubiquitous among vintage Japanese jewelry. Keeping in line with the Modernist ethos that has dominated jewelry design from circa 1960 to the present, simple geometric or abstract elements are also commonly encountered. You’ll sometimes find traditional Japanese metalworking techniques/alloys such as shakudō (a dark-patinaed copper-gold alloy) or mokume-gane (different metal alloys layered together to create a wood-grain pattern) employed in vintage pieces, too.

Now that we’ve covered Japanese jewelry history, let’s revisit that stunning 1980s Japanese brooch that caught my eye on eBay.

Fabricated in 900 fine platinum and 18 karat yellow gold by respected Japanese jeweler Ito Hiroaki, the brooch features an oval ring with a hanging cluster of cabochon cut sapphire grapes accented by small brilliant-cut diamonds. It is clear at a glance that this vintage Japanese brooch is more a work of art and less a mere piece of jewelry. The workmanship of the brooch is nothing short of exquisite – a fact highlighted by several distinct features of the piece.

Photo Credit: JapanDesigners

These marketing materials show Ito Hiroaki’s rather extravagant “Basic Line” of jewelry from 1985.

The heavy gauge platinum oval ring possesses a uniquely textured surface and is richly festooned with ropes of gold. According to original marketing material from circa 1985, this brooch was part of a suite of jewelry Ito released to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the development of his signature “Mellow Gold” metalsmithing technique.

The luscious grape cluster that sits invitingly at the bottom of the brooch is actually articulated, meaning it moves independently from the main body of the piece. This allows the grape cluster to swing with the movements of the wearer, causing the gemstones to effortlessly reflect any ambient light.

Designing and crafting articulated jewelry is a time consuming process that most jewelry makers avoid. The last time (and only time, to the best of my knowledge) such a technique was in widespread use was during the mid-19th century when tremblers – brooches meant to quiver with the slightest movement – were popular among the wealthy. These trembler brooches were invariably diamond-studded affairs set in lavish silver-topped gold settings. You can just imagine how expensive they were; commoners need not apply.

The bezel set gemstones used in this masterpiece of vintage Japanese jewelry are also top-notch. While not more than about 1/4 carat each, the midnight blue natural sapphire cabochons are of excellent quality: flawless, intensely hued and well-cut. In addition they are perfectly matched for color, clarity and cut – a factor that significantly boosts the value of even seemingly modest stones. Their total weight is also significant at 1.18 carats.

It is meaningful that we know the exact carat weight of the sapphires even though they are still mounted in the piece. This is because Ito Hiroaki was thorough enough to stamp the carat weight of the gems used in the brooch alongside the standard platinum and gold purity hallmarks. This is yet another sign of quality and attention to detail.

The small diamonds that accent the sapphire grape cluster are completely clean and white. It is well known among jewelers that white metals like platinum, palladium and white gold are very unforgiving in regards to the color of any diamonds mounted in them. When slightly yellowish or brownish diamonds are mounted in yellow gold it is hardly noticeable, but such a cost-cutting measure becomes immediately obvious in platinum.

However, there was no such cost-cutting here.

Designer Vintage Japanese Jewelry for Sale on eBay

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It is also notable that the piece drips with sapphires and diamonds and not lesser stones. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, even mid-range fine jewelry heavily relied on the big four gemstones (diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires) to achieve a luxurious appearance. However, by the 1980s (when this brooch was produced) it was more common for jewelers to embrace lower value stones in an attempt to control costs. This led to the rise of peridot, tourmaline, red garnet, blue topaz and other second tier stones in cost-conscious jewelry of the time. Happily, this is much less common in vintage Japanese jewelry where creators like Ito Hiroaki stuck to the highest end materials available.

As a result, this vintage brooch is true extraordinary.

And here’s the best part: I paid less than $1,000 for this fantastic piece. In fact I paid substantially less than $800. Although it was originally listed for $757.05, the seller (Greeber Japan) was having a 15% off sale across their entire eBay store. So I snagged this absolute designer jewel from the mid-1980s for a stunningly low $643.49.

Let’s slow down and think about that price for a moment.

Here is a gorgeous piece of vintage Japanese jewelry from the heyday of Japan’s glorious 1980s cultural apogee. This was the time when Sony and Nintendo ruled the world. This was the time when the Imperial Palace grounds in Tokyo were worth more than all the real estate in California. This was the time when Japanese anime burst onto the international scene with classics like Bubblegum Crisis, Ranma 1/2 and Akira. This was the Japan of perpetual nightlife, over-the-top parties and endless money.

Tokyo during the 1980s represented our glorious cyberpunk future, as shown in this YouTube video compilation:

So why was I able to buy a gem-studded piece of designer vintage Japanese jewelry from this mythical era for less than $700?

One of the things I always do before purchasing a piece of vintage jewelry is calculate its price per gram. I know from experience that if you pay less than $100 per gram for a piece of gem-set, solid karat gold or platinum jewelry, you’ve done well. This rule of thumb excludes low karat gold pieces (like 9 and 10 karat) and very common gemstones such as amethyst, citrine, small pearls and blue topaz. In this case, I paid around $57 per gram.

How is finding a bargain this good even possible? Is the vintage Japanese jewelry market broken?

I have a few theories about that.

First, demand for fine jewelry has been generally suppressed in the developed world ever since the Great Financial Crisis of 2008 – 2009. This is because the world has been living through a depression for the last decade plus. Slow job and wage growth has combined with an ever upward spiraling cost of living to eviscerate most households’ discretionary purchasing power. Fine jewelry purchases must compete with exorbitant rents, utilities, grocery bills and car payments – a battle it rarely wins.

As a result, we still see fairly robust jewelry sales in the sub-$250 price range as most people have moved down-market. Sales in the $10,000 and up luxury price range have also held up because the wealthy are still doing well financially. But fine jewelry in the middle market, priced between approximately $250 and $10,000, has been left for dead – a doughnut hole attributable to the Silent Depression we have all been living through these past years.

Estate Mikimoto, Tasaki, Niwaka & Ponte Vecchio Jewelry for Sale on eBay

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Another reason my vintage Japanese jewelry find was so affordable is that brooches are hopelessly out of fashion right now. There is an entire category of vintage and antique jewelry – brooches, stick pins, tie tacks, hair combs, tiaras and cufflinks – that I call fashion refugees. These are types of jewelry that are rarely worn today because they are out of step with current trends in fashion.

While some of these forms of jewelry will probably never come back into style (tiaras are likely dead forever), I feel very strongly that brooches are an exception. Brooches are one of the five basic jewelry forms alongside rings, bracelets, earrings and necklaces. This alone almost ensures a renaissance for them at some future date.

But for now brooches are the red-headed step-child of the vintage fine jewelry market. Brooches look best on lapels, collars and straps – more formal feminine attire. Today’s extremely informal fashion for sweaters and t-shirts do not play to their strength. That means that there is a healthy supply of vintage pieces on the market and limited demand.

This drives prices down, creating bargains for the discerning vintage Japanese jewelry buff.

Photo Credit: Greeber Japan

This stunning vintage Japanese brooch by designer Nobuko Ishikawa is rendered in platinum, gold, diamonds and chrysoprase.

The third reason my vintage Japanese brooch was so affordable was due to the ridiculously low price of platinum. As I write this, platinum is trading for about $1,000 a troy ounce, which is the exact same price it was selling for back in 2006. That means platinum is priced at same level it was 18 years ago!

Can you name any other precious material that has stagnated in price for so long? Silver is up 154% over that time period. Gold is up around 262%. Even colored gemstones – which have moved sideways in price since 2015 – are still up by 76% from 2006.

Remember, for the entirety of the 20th century and into the beginning of the 21st century platinum had always traded at a premium to gold. It is only within the past 10 years or so that this normal relationship has been inverted. This means that although platinum has traditionally been treated as the very finest of jewelry metals, it has recently been displaced by white gold when a white look is required.

This pricing anomaly in platinum gives jewelry collectors a golden opportunity to buy vintage and antique platinum jewelry for absurdly low prices. And because the Japanese people have a strong affinity for platinum, it is commonly found in higher end vintage Japanese jewelry. So I don’t find it very difficult to envision a future where platinum is once more priced at a premium to gold – with platinum jewelry regaining its ultra luxury status. If this happens, vintage platinum jewelry will adjust upward in price rather quickly and violently.

The final reason for vintage Japanese jewelry being undervalued is really quite unexpected. In the summer of 2024, the Japanese yen – U.S. dollar exchange rate hit a 34-year low of 160 yen to the dollar. The last time the yen was this weak was briefly during 1990 and only on a sustained basis before 1987!

And because Japanese estate jewelry sellers’ costs are priced in yen, it means that your dollar goes further when converted to Japanese yen. Their rent is priced in yen, their labor costs are priced in yen and even their utility costs are priced in yen. As a result, they will often accept a lower dollar price if it gives them a similar or even higher yen price.

Let’s take the 1980s Japanese brooch I purchased as an example. The price of $643.49 translates into just short of ¥103,000, assuming an exchange rate of 160 yen to the dollar. But five years ago during 2019, that same $643.49 would have only been worth about ¥70,000. This is because the yen/dollar exchange ratio was closer to 108 to 1 at the time.

So it’s easy to see how a Japanese seller might be motivated to accept a smaller number of dollars (or euros) today. This gives lovers of vintage Japanese jewelry with access to non-yen hard currencies a special opportunity to buy fine pieces at deep discounts.

It took a confluence of these four factors I just mentioned for me to be able to purchase my exquisite piece of vintage Japanese jewelry at a sub-$1,000 price. There is simply no way the price would have been this low under normal circumstances. In fact, I suspect that if these four factors hadn’t been present, a reasonable price for my brooch would have been somewhere in the $2,500 to $3,000 range.

Now all of this might be a bad thing if you are looking to sell fine vintage Japanese jewelry, but if you are looking to buy it is truly wondrous. I got an insane 75% discount from the fair value of the 1980s Japanese brooch I purchased. And if I find any more great bargains I’ll happily snap them up, too. I’m sure many other smart collectors are looking to do the same.

Fine Jewelry from Greeber Japan for Sale on eBay

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If you are interested in starting or adding to a collection of fine vintage Japanese jewelry I do have a few pointers. Cufflinks and brooches – both fashion refugees – will give you your best bang for the buck. But if you intend to wear the piece you buy, make certain it is a type of jewelry you like. In other words, don’t buy a brooch just because it is cheaper if you hate brooches.

Next, consider purchasing vintage Japanese jewelry that is made out of platinum or mixed karat gold and platinum. Only higher end pieces were fabricated from these metals and you are sure to get a bargain. Of course, 14 karat or higher solid gold jewelry is excellent, too. 18 karat is the most commonly encountered gold alloy in Japan, so purity is rarely a problem. Sterling silver (or mixed sterling and karat gold) is also perfectly acceptable as long as the piece is both impressive and rendered in a good Modernist style.

It is always nice when you can find vintage jewelry set with one or more of the big four gemstones: diamonds, rubies, emeralds or sapphires. I would try to shoot for a minimum total weight of more than 1 carat, with each individual stone weighing at least 10 points. These requirements are harder to meet than you might think at first. But if the piece you love is set with second tier gems (tourmaline, tanzanite, fancy garnet, opal, spinel, jade, etc.) fear not – these can also be excellent finds if the price is right (and the stones are large enough).

Above all, make certain you skew towards quality.

Ideally we want signed pieces that have been painstakingly hand fabricated by a known firm or artist. Always flip the piece over to view the back. It should look almost as good as the front, without any unsightly blobs of metal, rough surfaces, damage or other distracting features. Any vintage Japanese jewelry you consider should simply ooze quality, possessing a combination of high end materials, fine craftsmanship and original design.

Pricing will generally start at $400 per piece, escalating quickly if larger, more valuable gemstones are present.

Vintage Japanese jewelry is one of the great undiscovered bargains of the fine jewelry world right now. And the fact that the Japanese yen is plumbing 40 year lows versus the dollar just makes the deals even sweeter.

Read more thought-provoking Antique Sage gems & jewelry articles here.

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Read in-depth Antique Sage vintage jewelry investment guides here.

Collecting Antique Jewelry for Profit

Collecting antique jewelry can be both fun and profitable. For example, this Modernist 14 karat white gold ring set with a chunky 2.4 carat rhodolite garnet and flanked by two brilliant cut diamonds perfectly encapsulates the go-go years of the 1970s.

What is the best way to collect antique jewelry for those with an eye toward future investment return? Now there’s something to be said for the simple, pure joy of owning a piece of old jewelry just because you love it. But if we’re going to be laying down hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars for a vintage piece, it is good to have some assurance that we’ll be able to recoup our investment down the road.

Before we get started on the best ways to collect antique jewelry for profit, I want to lay out some important ground rules.

I am only discussing fine jewelry in this article. I define fine jewelry as being made of 14 karat or higher purity gold. I’m not a big fan of lower karat gold alloys. Platinum and palladium are also excellent fine jewelry metals, although you’ll probably never run into the latter metal in a vintage piece. I believe sterling silver may be used in fine jewelry, but only within the context of the Modernist (circa late 1950s to the present), Brutalist (circa 1960 to 1980) or Arts & Crafts (circa 1880 to 1910) movements.

In other words, costume jewelry is outside the scope of this article. If you are in doubt as to whether a piece is costume or not just remember this handy tip: costume jewelry pretends to be more valuable than it actually is; fine jewelry does not.

So for example, a mass-produced 1940s Retro brooch by Trifari may be made of vermeil (gold plating over sterling silver) set with clear rhinestones. This is clearly imitating a solid karat gold brooch set with diamonds – a far more expensive piece. Our hypothetical Trifari brooch is clearly a piece of costume jewelry.

In contrast, a hand-fabricated 1960s Modernist Scandinavian bracelet may be crafted from solid sterling silver set with smoky quartz cabochons. This piece of jewelry is meant to stand alone as a work of art for your wrist. It is not attempting to imitate more valuable materials and is therefore a piece of fine jewelry in its own right.

I also want to make it clear that you always want to buy high quality jewelry – pieces that reflect both good craftsmanship and good zeitgeist. Zeitgeist is the term I use for jewelry that does a good job of embodying the design principles of its era. You want your Art Deco jewelry to be geometric and streamlined. Likewise, you want your Victorian jewelry to be chunky, ornate and bold.

The workmanship of a piece can’t be overlooked either. There is plenty of 14 karat and 18 karat gold vintage jewelry out there that was mass-produced to an inferior standard. This substandard jewelry may have blobs of excess solder, bulky prongs or paper-thin metal (to save on weight). It may also be set with cheap and poorly cut – albeit genuine – stones. Even if it is legitimately old, such jewelry is only fit for the melting pot and should be avoided at all costs.

Now let’s continue on to the main topic.

1) Collecting Antique Jewelry by Theme

First on our list is collecting antique jewelry by theme. The wonderland of subject matter to choose from is so diverse as to be mind boggling.

For example, you could concentrate on jewelry with an animal theme – cats, dogs, horses, dolphins, insects, birds, etc. You could even specialize in mythological animals if you cared to. Animals have been perennially popular in antique jewelry straight from antiquity right up until the present day.

Another possibility would be sports. The vintage jewelry market is overflowing with fine example paying homage to tennis, golf, bowling, baseball, basketball, football and soccer, among others. Simply pick the sport you like best (or collect them all as a “sports generalist” jewelry aficionado)!

Transportation is another favorite motif. This encompasses cars, trains, airplanes, ships and even stagecoaches. What makes this area of vintage jewelry collecting so fascinating is that 20th century society was absolutely obsessed with speed. Whether it was a Stutz Bearcat sports car or a Pan Am Clipper airplane, the faster it went, the sexier it was.

Of course, if you find a particular subject matter too limiting, you can always collect antique jewelry by type. For instance, you could focus on just purchasing bracelets, pendants, rings or brooches. Or you could delve into more obscure areas like stickpins, cameos or mourning jewelry. The hobby can be whatever you want it to be.

A final theme would be to collect old jewelry by era. If you really love the look of a particular time period, this may be the way to go. Do you adore long flowing hair and idealistic naturalism? Then 1890s Art Nouveau jewelry is your fix. Do you admire sleek lines and bold geometric forms? Then 1920s Art Deco is your answer. Do you long for organic abstraction? Then 1960s Modernist is your ambition.

Photo Credit: AnotherSkyVintage

This slightly whimsical Edwardian era owl stickpin is from the first decade of the 20th century. By cleverly combining multi-colored white, rose and yellow gold with old European cut diamonds for eyes, it achieves a stunning effect. With an asking price below $1,000, this stickpin is not only a superb example of highly collectible animal-themed antique jewelry, but is also a good investment piece.

I believe that collecting vintage jewelry by theme has perhaps the most potential in today’s market. Old jewelry sporting desirable themes is highly collectible in my opinion, with a vast pool of interested buyers. It is certainly the most flexible approach. There are good quality examples available for just a few hundred dollars, or even a bit less if you get lucky.

The downside of collecting antique jewelry by theme is that there is almost too much choice. You will have to do the legwork involved in winnowing out lower quality pieces in order to find that one gem hidden among the dregs. It does represent an easy entry point into the field of vintage jewelry collecting, but some experience will be necessary in order to achieve true proficiency.

2) Collecting Antique Jewelry by Intrinsic Value

The second avenue to collect antique jewelry is by intrinsic value. This technique involves only purchasing vintage jewelry that is priced close to the underlying value of its component parts. Another term for intrinsic value is scrap value. One way to visualize this is to imagine taking apart a specific piece of jewelry until all we have left are piles of loose gemstones and precious metals. If these resulting precious materials were sold as scrap, they would represent the intrinsic value of a piece.

However, I want to emphasize that we never intend to disassemble fine antique or vintage jewelry for its scrap value; it is always worth far more in its original form. Nonetheless, intrinsic value remains a valuable concept for the jewelry collector or investor.

Under normal circumstances it is impossible to purchase a piece of fine vintage jewelry for less than its intrinsic value. The market simply doesn’t price good quality antique jewelry at or below the value of its component parts. In fact, I believe that double intrinsic value is a good starting price point for old fine jewelry. In other words, you’ve gotten a good deal if the intrinsic value of a piece is 50% (or more) of the price you pay.

One downside to the intrinsic value method of buying antique jewelry is that it can be difficult to properly estimate the scrap value of gemstones. Some gems (like natural rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds) can be very valuable – up to thousands of dollars per stone – while others (like citrines, blue topazes, amethysts and moonstones) can be worth almost nothing – a dollar a stone or even less. And this doesn’t even take into account the fact that synthetic stones (which usually have no intrinsic value at all) have been regularly mounted in jewelry since circa 1900! So there is definitely a subjective element to estimating the value of a gem-studded piece of jewelry.

In contrast, the precious metal content of jewelry is generally much easier to estimate.

First, you weigh the piece. Second, you subtract the estimated weight of any gemstones. Each carat of gem weight is equal to 0.2 grams, but the overall estimated gemstone weight doesn’t have to be very exact to be useful. Next, you multiply the net metal weight by the fineness of the alloy, expressed as a percentage. For example, 14 karat gold is 58.3% fine and 18 karat gold is 75% fine. The resulting number is the actual (estimated) pure precious metal content of the jewelry, which can then be multiplied by the current spot price of the metal to arrive at a dollar value.

Another downside of the intrinsic value strategy is that it forces you to be an opportunist. You can’t set out by saying, “I’m only going to purchase 1920s era Art Deco rings at less than 2x their intrinsic value.” There simply isn’t enough available in the marketplace for an approach this narrow to be viable. You will end up finding – and therefore buying – nothing.

Instead, you need to cast a wide net when investing in vintage jewelry based on intrinsic value. This means you must consider most eras and jewelry types. And your resulting collection will, by necessity, end up being somewhat eclectic.

The great advantage of purchasing vintage jewelry with a low price to intrinsic value ratio is that it is a very low risk proposition. Honestly, if done properly it should be almost impossible to lose money using this method. And the upside can be substantial. Incidentally, this is the method I use in my personal collecting, although it is certainly not for everyone.

But if all of this sounds a bit overwhelming, then I have a convenient shortcut you may find useful. If you can purchase a (non-synthetic) gem-set piece of fine antique jewelry in either 14 karat (or better) gold or platinum for $100 a gram or less, then it is usually a good deal from an intrinsic value standpoint. Many sellers will openly state a gram weight in their online listings, which makes this hint especially handy. The $100 a gram mark would equate to approximately double intrinsic value under most circumstances.

Photo Credit: nooni

This stylish pair of 1950s 14 karat yellow gold Mid-Century Modern cufflinks weighs an impressively hefty 13.6 grams. In addition, they are set with two good quality cabochon cut natural star sapphires. As a result, the intrinsic value of the set is approximately the same as its asking price (around $700) – a rare instant win in the world of vintage jewelry.

An alternative to the intrinsic value method of collecting fine vintage jewelry is to concentrate on examples that only employ one specific gemstone or material. In effect, you would become a specialist on one particular gem or metal. For example, you could choose to only collect platinum jewelry. Or you could specialize in pre-WWII jewelry containing old cut diamonds. You could even pursue something slightly outside the box like only collecting enameled jewelry or coral-set pieces, for example.

By specializing in one select material you would eventually become extremely knowledgeable about it. This would allow you to much more easily spot bargains in your chosen area of expertise. However, this approach lacks the safety of buying old jewelry based on a reasonable price to intrinsic value ratio.

3) Collecting Antique Jewelry by Designer

The final approach to collecting vintage jewelry is by designer or name brand. This strategy is pretty straight forward. Simply purchase older jewelry hallmarked by luminary haute couture luxury houses such as Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Boucheron, Harry Winston, Van Cleef & Arpels, or Buccellati, among others.

The benefit to following this strategy is that you are guaranteed a fairly high level of overall quality. These storied luxury houses only hired experienced craftsmen who worked with the highest quality materials. As a result, vintage jewelry from Cartier, for example, will always be both well made and set with fine, natural gemstones.

The big downside to this type of collecting is that everyone else has already figured it out already. This means that prices for antique fine designer jewelry are through the roof – almost always thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars per piece. In fact, I am of the opinion that many participants in the vintage jewelry market use name brands as a proxy for quality.

That isn’t a compliment, by the way. It means that buyers are taking a shortcut to compensate for their lack of industry knowledge. But it is a very expensive shortcut.

Even though the luxury houses produced excellent quality jewelry, it doesn’t mean they had a monopoly on the very best jewelry. In fact, it is not uncommon for some high-end, completely unmarked vintage jewelry to be crafted to a better standard than pieces from even the most renowned luxury houses! But because many collectors don’t know how to identify the characteristics of high quality vintage jewelry on their own, they default to buying the “Tiffany & Co.” stamp on the back.

As a result they not only overpay in my opinion, but are also susceptible to forged hallmarks illicitly placed on lower quality goods.

Of course, one can always look beyond the typical designer names.

There were many other jewelry manufacturers who produced fine quality pieces that simply don’t get the same reverence as the haute couture luxury houses do. Overlooked makers include Liberty & Co. of London, Krementz of New Jersey, J.E. Caldwell of Philadelphia and Oscar Heyman of New York City. There were also more specialist jewelers like Mikimoto of Tokyo – a cultured pearl expert, Ming’s of Hawaii – specializing in jade, coral and pearls, and Gump’s of San Francisco – a leader in Orientalist motifs, jade and pearls.

Photo Credit: caz7722

The delicately hued enamels on this 1950s Krementz brooch are a feast for the eyes. Although it isn’t as well known as some of the big luxury houses, Krementz produced some truly top-notch vintage jewelry which is richly deserving of collectors’ and investors’ attention.

Because they are not household names, the pricing for these lesser-known vintage jewelry makers is often substantially less than that of the premier brands. However, their quality is not necessarily any lower. In fact, sometimes these makers produced jewelry for the major luxury houses under contract. But you would never know it because the Cartier or Tiffany & Co. hallmark is all that ended up being stamped on the finished goods.

A final approach to collecting antique jewelry by designer is to choose obscure makers who were nonetheless leaders in their fields. For example, Larter & Sons of Newark, NJ concentrated on men’s jewelry such as stickpins, cufflinks and studs. Carter, Gough & Co., also of Newark, NJ, specialized in pins and cufflinks, although they produced other types of jewelry as well.

Because these companies typically closed their doors decades ago, they have little name recognition today. As a result, it is often possible to pick up their masterpieces for a pittance compared to more well-known makers.

The big disadvantage of collecting antique jewelry from companies with little market acceptance is that their day in the sun may never come. Collectors may simply never really catch on to the fact that these underappreciated designers produced some truly fine jewelry.

In the end the most important rule for collecting antique jewelry is to buy what you like. However, it wouldn’t hurt to do so within one of the three frameworks listed above: theme, intrinsic value or designer.

Read more thought-provoking Antique Sage gems & jewelry articles here.

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Read in-depth Antique Sage investment guides here.

Antique Jewelry Trends – Inflation in 2023 and Beyond

Photo Credit: Vintage Vault Classics

As 2023 unfolds, let’s talk for a moment about recent antique jewelry trends. But before we get to the meat of the topic, I’d like to start off with a short story. I promise it’s relevant – really!

Not long ago I was browsing listings for vintage and antique jewelry on Etsy, hoping to find a bargain.

This is definitely not as glamorous as it might sound.

My process involves wading through hundreds of listings looking for that one piece that wows me while sporting a reasonable price. These are much harder to find than you might think. In my estimate, only about 25 listings out of 1000 will be worth looking at more closely. Of those 25 listings, only 1 or 2 will be potential buys. That is an ultimate hit rate of 0.1% to 0.2% – not exactly rich pickings!

In any case, I eventually stumbled across a piece that fit my requirements. It was a bold 1940s Retro era floral brooch crafted in sumptuous 14 karat white gold, set with round-cut diamonds and marquise-cut rubies. This brooch had a lot going for it. It weighed in at an extraordinarily heavy 16.3 grams, meaning that the gold content of the piece alone was worth $50 more than the asking price!

It was also set with over two dozen brilliant-cut diamonds of various sizes, totaling more than 2 carats in weight. The large central diamond was not brilliant-cut, but was instead an Old European cut stone that I estimated at close to 40 points in weight. This mix of modern brilliant-cut diamonds and Old European cut diamonds in the same piece wasn’t uncommon in 1940s jewelry. In any case, the Retro brooch was stunning; it practically dripped with jewels!

There were however, a couple of things I didn’t love about the brooch.

The 17 marquise-cut rubies set at the perimeter of the brooch were all flame fusion synthetics. Although period correct and perfectly acceptable in a vintage piece of this era, I would have of course preferred natural rubies.

The Retro styling of the piece was also imperfect.

While Retro era jewelry is supposed to be bold – and this piece certainly was – it was simultaneously a little unfocused or amorphous in execution. I suspect that the piece was made in the late 1940s/early 1950s during the transition from Retro to Mid-Century design. To the detriment of the piece, it incorporated design elements from both styles.

Sometimes this happens in old jewelry.

Despite these shortcomings, I found the Retro brooch to be a compelling investment. The gold content of the piece more than covered its purchase price; the intrinsic value of the diamonds and any artistic value the brooch had were simply icing on the cake. The asking price was $490, but the seller was having a 30% off sale at the time. As a result, this lovely and authentic Retro brooch could be had for a mere $343!

I placed my order and then eagerly awaited my prize to be shipped.

Unfortunately, life had other plans.

A couple days after placing the order, the seller reached out to inform me that she couldn’t find the item in her inventory. Apparently, the brooch had been sold at a trade show a couple months earlier and had subsequently never been marked as sold in her books by accident. And just like that, the deal that I thought was there…evaporated.

I was terribly disappointed, but these things happen.

What this experience really underscored for me was just how difficult it has become to find investment grade vintage karat gold jewelry below the $500 price point in 2023. This troubling antique jewelry trend is a dramatic departure from the situation just a few years ago, when fine vintage material was reasonably plentiful for $400 or even $300. Now those same pieces are only offered for $700 or $800 – sometimes more!

I have some theories about why this happened and what the future may hold for the antique jewelry market.

Vintage Karat Gold Jewelry ($500 to $1,000) for Sale on eBay

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As with many things in our lives, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 is at least partially to blame for the skyrocketing price of fine old jewelry. When people were trapped in their homes due to the lockdowns, some entertained themselves with Netflix, others with online gambling and quite a few, apparently, with online shopping for vintage jewelry.

We don’t know how large the influx of new collectors/admirers hunting for sleek Art Deco pendants, whimsical Edwardian rings or bold Retro bracelets was, but it was significant enough to increase prices substantially across the board.

As I previously mentioned, there is vanishingly little good vintage karat gold/platinum jewelry supply left in the market below the $500 price point. There isn’t even that much in the $500 to $1,000 range, although there is certainly some. It is only above the psychologically important $1,000 mark that you begin to find plentiful numbers of high quality vintage and antique pieces.

This inflation driven antique jewelry trend has been a long time in coming.

For about 25 years – from the early 1990s to the late 2010s – pricing for fine vintage jewelry was fairly stable, with only modest increases often related to the rising underlying value of a piece’s gold or gemstone content. Yes, there were pockets of strength during that time in areas like signed designer pieces (Cartier, Bulgari, Tiffany, Bucheron, etc.) and those set with very valuable stones (superb quality emeralds, rubies, sapphires or diamonds greater than 1 or 2 carats in weight). But for most other segments of the vintage jewelry market, price appreciation proceeded at a leisurely 1% to 3% per annum for better than two decades.

The last few years since 2020 have blown this formerly reliable trend completely out of the water. Now good quality antique jewelry is experiencing 5% to 20% price increases every year – and that is on top of the approximately 50% one-time jump in prices around 2021.

Increased demand from new collectors isn’t the only dynamic at work, however.

There is also a persistently shrinking vintage jewelry supply due to the fact that the Silent and Boomer generations who once owned/inherited 1950s and earlier jewelry are now in terminal demographic decline. It is a truism of the estate sale business that the bulk of items found in most liquidating estates will be no older than about 60 years old. This means that most jewelry coming out of estates right now is from the 1960s or later. I explored this concept in greater depth in an article titled “The Demographics of Antiques“.

We can therefore infer that older antique jewelry from the 1950s and earlier will only become scarcer as time goes on – with commensurate price increases, of course!

So what is a vintage jewelry connoisseur or investor to do?

Well, I see four possible choices.

First, you could soldier on looking for the few remaining good quality karat gold pieces of vintage jewelry that are still available under $500. It would require a great deal of knowledge and patience for this strategy to pay off. And, unfortunately, the day will eventually come – probably sooner than we would hope – when there is simply nothing worthwhile left to be had at this price point.

I would also like to point out that a lot of the nicer vintage jewelry I’ve found recently in this category only technically qualifies from a price perspective. In other words, the asking price is $475 or $495 – a stone’s throw from $500. I fear that the days of really nice antique pieces being offered at $250 or $300 is probably over.

Vintage Scandinavian Modernist Jewelry for Sale on eBay

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Another strategy would be to simply throw in the towel and expand your budget. This would mean moving up to the $500 to $1,000 tier when shopping for antique jewelry. Even here, I don’t think there is a great selection available at the moment. But it is definitely a more viable option than trying to bottom-feed below $500.

When shopping in this price range I would emphasize solid karat gold or platinum jewelry that is set with sizable precious stones, if at all possible. In my opinion, it is very difficult to find non-gem set gold jewelry that is investment grade. And while there are always exceptions to every rule, a piece would have to be really special to be investment-oriented without gemstones.

A third approach would be to switch to vintage costume jewelry. The real advantage here is that you would be able to afford the best of the best – the top of the product stack – for under $500. Relatively few costume pieces sell for more than that, although some are starting to.

Vintage costume jewelry was also usually very on-point, stylistically speaking. Costume jewelry manufacturers always embraced the prevailing style trends of their age. So if you crave that big, expensive-looking, gem-studded Retro or Mid-Century look, but have a hopelessly small beer budget, then costume jewelry is a possibility.

Unfortunately, these are the only good things I can say about vintage costume jewelry. Costume jewelry almost always has zero intrinsic value. In addition, it was a mass produced product with no crossover between famous makers of fine jewelry and those of costume jewelry.

Therefore, I don’t consider vintage costume jewelry to be investible and do not believe it will have a return profile that is nearly as strong as high quality vintage karat gold jewelry in the future. Vintage costume jewelry appeals to the specialist or casual collector only – not the investor.

A final scenario would be to concentrate on Modernist jewelry from the late 1950s to the 1980s. I especially like Modernist pieces from the Scandinavian countries: Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

Most of the Modernist jewelry in this price range will use sterling silver as its primary medium. Nonetheless, its organic shapes, eclectic themes and sweeping lines instinctively appeal to a broad range of people. And few peoples produced vintage Modernist jewelry to the same level of artistic accomplishment as the Scandinavians did.

Although tremendously beautiful, Modernist jewelry is still affordable for two different reasons.

First, it isn’t old enough to have rolled off the demographic wave I mentioned earlier. This means it is still relatively abundant in the marketplace. Secondly, Modernist jewelry is often made with lower intrinsic value materials such as sterling silver, quartzes, amber, enamel, etc. This limits the scrap value of most Modernist pieces, helping to keep them in a lower price range.

Photo Credit: inScandinavia

Although relatively inexpensive, this vintage Danish Modernist Sterling silver bracelet from the 1970s is mounted with bright green chrysoprase gemstones which create visual interest.

But don’t let the low prices fool you.

Modernist jewelry was often hand-made to a very high artistic and technical standard. In addition, examples of Scandinavian origin were usually at the cutting-edge of style for their era and were often clearly hallmarked as to maker, country, city and date! As an added bonus, it is not uncommon to find mixed metal Modernist jewelry rendered in sterling silver generously accented with solid karat gold elements. This helps separate high quality Modernist jewelry from less intrinsically valuable costume jewelry.

If you are interested in vintage jewelry as an investment and find yourself absolutely unable to exceed the $500 or $600 price barrier, then I wholeheartedly recommend Modernist jewelry as your best option.

For the first time in decades, inflation has finally found its way into the world of vintage jewelry. This is both a good and a bad thing. It is good because people are finally recognizing the value of fine vintage and antique jewelry, which had previously been ignored. But it is also bad because we can no longer buy older, gorgeous jewelry at unbelievably low prices anymore.

But I have a final bit of good news for vintage jewelry connoisseurs and investors. The U.S. economy – and with it the global economy – is almost certainly going to plunge into a severe recession by the end of 2023. When this happens there will be a 6 to 18 month window of temporarily reduced antique jewelry prices. This will give the financially savvy hard asset investor one last chance to snag a bargain in the world of high quality vintage jewelry.

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