Strands of Vintage History – The Costume Jewellery

Around her neck is the cinema’s greatest artefact of jewellery. The screen bears the sadly true and horrific depiction of a story that took place more than a hundred years ago, but the necklace has no true identity. From being the sole article worn during a portrait to the sinking of the ship, the Heart of the Ocean around Rose DeWitt Bukater’s neck played a great supporting role to Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio as they re-enacted the great sea voyage of the RMS Titanic.

The tragic romance of this story, both in real life and on the big IMAX screen, makes the jewellery that much more attractive. It goes on our jewellery bucket list.

Abdication avant-garde: the hidden royal gems

After his abdication, the Duke of Windsor had rare jewellery made for his lover, Wallis Simpson. He showered her with lavish jewels for the rest of his life. After the Duchess of Windsor’s death, her famous jewels made history at a 1987 Sotheby’s auction in Geneva, fetching over $50 million, a record for a single-owner jewellery collection. This month Christie’s is to sell more of her niche pieces. Her vintage collections always go way over the bidding price.

They were the Duke of Windsor’s reminder that he was once a King. By creating avant-garde pieces he accepted the biggest humiliation a man in power can endure. Vulnerability to a divorced woman who conquered his heart, as opposed to his duty to his throne.

Pearls were a favourite of the duchess, who often wore them in a single or double-strand necklace, along with pearl and diamond drops.

Prince Harry instead chose Lady Diana’s pieces. Meghan certainly is milking that for all it’s worth, Gucci handbag and all.

We women admit to ourselves that we want something breathtakingly and astoundingly beautiful on our necks, even if it’s the last thing we wear during this pandemic. Accessories are wonderful to wear for mental health reasons.

Miriam Haskell jewellery

Thankfully there is a vast world out there of costume jewellery. Its authentic roots and culturally rich history are compelling, both in its cost and in its looks, impressive in its velvet box and draped on our body.

Starting with 1928. This company, with extremely reasonable prices and achievable looks, has so many lines to suit the season. Summer fun, bridal wear, anything for everything. These great starter pieces are exceptionally suited to carefree days as we embrace days gone by.

At the other end of the scale of cost is the designer Miriam Haskell, with pieces in her bridal collection inspired by original vintage pieces. The 18-inch Baroque Pearl necklace is a quintessential example of pure vintage jewellery of the finest workmanship, as the knots between each pearl testify.

This piece, like many others, could also replicate costume jewellery. The purpose of costume jewellery, and its 1930s origin, was that if it was lost, broken or borrowed there would be no significant loss. These trinkets may have had no great monetary value, but they made the outfits, or to borrow their terminology the costumes, complete. Pearls are often the first pieces of jewellery we own that fit the 1930s definition. Mere trinkets.

Whilst Haskell has opted for sleeker vintage impersonations, all the glory and chintz can be found in collections like the new Oak Land Designs. She was also a user of coral.

A small environmentally friendly company that refers to itself as Vintage Fabulous uses recycled products to make each vintage-inspired piece by hand.

Vestiaire has endless amounts of vintage accessories from the likes of Gucci.

Finally, supplying vintage and contemporary jewellery, This Charming Girl is home to beautiful, whimsical pieces that look like they belong in a fairytale. Their most recent addition, a gold-plated rose suspended inside a clear acrylic bottle on a 30-inch antique gold-plated chain, looks suspiciously like an enchanted rose we all know from a popular French fairytale.

Piled and entangled in flea market boxes are masses of this jewellery. As you browse page after page on eBay and Vestiaire, you will find that some pieces rose to fame whilst others are still worth as much as the candy necklaces from our 25-cent gumball machines, or the fake ring found at the bottom of a cereal or Happy Meal box.

If we are entirely honest with our inner fashionista diva heart, we will understand that the price tag does not set the value of our vintage costume jewellery. I have amazing pieces from YSL dating back to the 1980s. They are the ones in the first photograph.

As we snap clasps, slide rings over our knuckles and twine strands around our wrists, we are saluting the women of the vintage era who worked so hard to enable us to be us.

Like Sophia Loren, I am a big lover of brooches. They complete an outfit any time of the day. I bought one in Italy from a vintage store, by Iradj Moini.