![Swatch Bijoux Jewelry](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Swatch_Bijoux_Jewelry.JPG)
Costume or fashion jewelry includes a range of
decorative items worn for personal adornment that are manufactured as less expensive ornamentation to complement a particular fashionable outfit or garment
[Baker, Lillian. Fifty Years of Collectable Fashion Jewelry. Paducah: Collector Books, 1986.] as opposed to "real" (fine) jewelry, which is more costly and which may be regarded primarily as collectibles, keepsakes, or investments. From the outset, costume jewelry — also known as fashion jewelry — paralleled the styles of its more precious fine counterparts
Terminology
It is also known as artificial jewellery, imitation jewellery, imitated jewelry, trinkets, fashion jewelry, junk jewelry, fake jewelry, or fallalery.
Etymology
The term costume jewelry dates back to the early 20th century. It reflects the use of the word "costume" to refer to what is now called an "
outfit
Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...
".
Components
Originally, costume or fashion jewelry was made of inexpensive simulated gemstones, such as
rhinestone
A rhinestone, paste or diamante is a diamond simulant originally made from rock crystal but since the 19th century from crystal glass or polymers such as acrylic.
Original
Originally, rhinestones were rock crystals gathered from the river ...
s or
lucite
Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite, ...
, set in
pewter
Pewter () is a malleable metal alloy consisting of tin (85–99%), antimony (approximately 5–10%), copper (2%), bismuth, and sometimes silver. Copper and antimony (and in antiquity lead) act as hardeners, but lead may be used in lower grades of ...
,
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
,
nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...
, or
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
. During the depression years, rhinestones were even down-graded by some manufacturers to meet the cost of production.
During the World War II era,
sterling silver
Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925.
''Fine silver'', which is 99.9% pure silver, is r ...
was often incorporated into costume jewelry designs primarily because:
# The components used for base metal were needed for wartime production (i.e., military applications), and a ban was placed on their use in the private sector.
# Base metal was originally popular because it could approximate platinum's color,
sterling silver
Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925.
''Fine silver'', which is 99.9% pure silver, is r ...
fulfilled the same function.
This resulted in a number of years during which sterling silver costume jewelry was produced and some can still be found in today's vintage jewelry marketplace.
Modern costume jewelry incorporates a wide range of materials. High-end
crystals
A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macrosc ...
,
cubic zirconia
Cubic zirconia (CZ) is the cubic crystalline form of zirconium dioxide (ZrO2). The synthesized material is hard and usually colorless, but may be made in a variety of different colors. It should not be confused with zircon, which is a zirconi ...
simulated diamonds, and some semi-precious stones are used in place of precious stones. Metals include gold- or silver-plated brass, and sometimes
vermeil or sterling silver. Lower-priced jewelry may still use gold plating over pewter, nickel, or other metals; items made in countries outside the United States may contain
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
. Some pieces incorporate
plastic
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
,
acrylic
Acrylic may refer to:
Chemicals and materials
* Acrylic acid, the simplest acrylic compound
* Acrylate polymer, a group of polymers (plastics) noted for transparency and elasticity
* Acrylic resin, a group of related thermoplastic or thermosett ...
,
leather
Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...
, or wood.
Historical expression
Costume jewelry can be characterized by the period in history in which it was made.
Art Deco period (1920–1930s)
The
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
movement was an attempt to combine the harshness of mass production with the sensitivity of art and design. It was during this period that Coco Chanel introduced costume jewelry to complete the costume. The Art Deco movement died with the onset of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
and the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
According to Schiffer, some of the characteristics of the costume jewelry in the Art Deco period were:
*Free-flowing curves were replaced with a harshly geometric and symmetrical theme
*Long pendants, bangle bracelets, cocktail rings, and elaborate accessory items such as cigarette cases and holders
Retro period (1935 to 1950)
In the Retro period, designers struggled with the art versus
mass production
Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and batch ...
dilemma. Natural materials merged with plastics. The retro period primarily included American-made jewelry, which had a distinctly American look. With the war in Europe, many European jewelry firms were forced to shut down. Many European designers emigrated to the U.S. since the economy was recovering.
According to Schiffer, some of the characteristics of costume jewelry in the Retro period were:
*Glamour, elegance, and sophistication
*Flowers, bows, and sunburst designs with a Hollywood flair
*Moonstones, horse motifs, military influence, and ballerinas
*
Bakelite
Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, better known as Bakelite ( ), is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed ...
and other plastic jewelry
Art Modern period (1945 to 1960)
![SCsultana1959](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/SCsultana1959.jpg)
In the Art Modern period following World War II, jewelry designs became more traditional and understated. The big, bold styles of the Retro period went out of style and were replaced by the more tailored styles of the 1950s and 1960s.
According to Schiffer, some of the characteristics of costume jewelry in the Art Modern period were:
*Bold, lavish jewelry
*Large, chunky bracelets, charm bracelets, Jade/opal, citrine and
topaz
Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al Si O( F, OH). It is used as a gemstone in jewelry and other adornments. Common topaz in its natural state is colorless, though trace element impurities can mak ...
*Poodle pins, Christmas tree pins, and other Christmas jewelry
*Rhinestones
With the advent of the Mod period came "''Body Jewelry''". Carl Schimel of Kim Craftsmen Jewelry was at the forefront of this style. While Kim Craftsmen closed in the early 1990s, many collectors still forage for their items at antique shows and flea markets.
General history
Costume jewelry has been part of the culture for almost 300 years. During the 18th century, jewelers began making pieces with inexpensive glass. In the 19th century, costume jewelry made of semi-precious material came into the market. Jewels made of semi-precious material were more affordable, and this affordability gave common people the chance to own costume jewelry.
[Schiffer, Nancy. ''The Best of Costume Jewelry''. Atglen: Schiffer Publishing, 1999.]
But the real golden era for costume jewelry began in the middle of the 20th century. The new
middle class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...
wanted beautiful, but affordable jewelry. The demand for jewelry of this type coincided with the machine age and the
industrial revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
. The revolution made the production of carefully executed replicas of admired
heirloom
In popular usage, an heirloom is something that has been passed down for generations through family members. Examples are a Family Bible, antiques, weapons or jewellery.
The term originated with the historical principle of an heirloom in ...
pieces possible.
As the class structure in America changed, so did measures of real wealth. Women in all social stations, even the working-class woman, could own a small piece of costume jewelry. The average town and countrywoman could acquire and wear a considerable amount of this mass-produced jewelry that was both affordable and stylish.
Costume jewelry was also made popular by various designers in the mid-20th century. Some of the most remembered names in costume jewelry include both the high and low priced brands: Crown Trifari,
Dior
Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior (stylized DIOR), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH, the world's largest luxury group. Dior itself holds ...
,
Chanel
Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel is ...
,
Miriam Haskell
Miriam Haskell (July 1, 1899 – July 14, 1981) was an American designer of costume jewelry. With creative partner Frank Hess, she designed affordable pieces from 1920 through the 1960s. Her vintage items are eagerly collected and the namesake com ...
,
Monet
Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...
,
Napier,
Corocraft,
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
, and Kim Craftsmen.
A significant factor in the popularization of costume jewelry was Hollywood movies. The leading female stars of the 1940s and 1950s often wore and then endorsed the pieces produced by a range of designers. If you admired a necklace worn by
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...
in ''
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
''The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex'' is a 1939 American historical romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, and Olivia de Havilland. Based on the play '' Elizabeth the Queen'' by Maxwell Anders ...
'', you could buy a copy from
Joseff of Hollywood 300px, Joseff's earrings
Joseff of Hollywood was a jewelry firm, founded by Eugene Joseff.
The firm was particularly noted for creating costume jewelry for many of the biggest films and movie stars of the 1930s and 1940s, including Shirley Temple ...
, who made the original. Stars such as
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh ( ; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967; born Vivian Mary Hartley), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, for her definitive performances as Scarlett O'Hara in ''Gon ...
,
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...
, and
Jane Russell
Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell (June 21, 1921 – February 28, 2011) was an American actress, singer, and model. She was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s. She starred in more than 20 films.
Russell moved from th ...
appeared in adverts for the pieces and the availability of the collections in shops such as
Woolworth made it possible for ordinary women to own and wear such jewelry.
Coco Chanel
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...
greatly popularized the use of
faux
Faux may refer to: People
*Faux (surname)
Places Places in Belgium
* Faux, a village in the Belgian commune of Court-Saint-Étienne
Places in France
* Faux, Ardennes, French commune of the Ardennes department
* Faux, Dordogne, French commune of t ...
jewelry in her years as a fashion designer, bringing costume jewelry to life with gold and faux pearls.
Kenneth Jay Lane
Kenneth Jay Lane (April 22, 1932 – July 20, 2017) was an American costume jewelry designer.
Life
Born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of an automotive parts supplier, He is of Jewish descent. Lane attended the University of Michigan and the Rhod ...
has since the 1960s been known for creating unique pieces for
Jackie Onassis
Jackie or Jacky may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters named Jackie or Jacky
** Jackie, current ring name of female professional wrestler Jacqueline Moore
** Jackie Lee (I ...
,
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...
,
Diana Vreeland
Diana Vreeland (September 29, 1903 – August 22, 1989) was a French-American fashion columnist and editor. She worked for the fashion magazine ''Harper's Bazaar'' and as editor-in-chief at ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'', later becoming a special c ...
, and
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, t ...
. He is probably best known for his three-strand faux pearl necklace worn by
Barbara Bush
Barbara Pierce Bush (June 8, 1925 – April 17, 2018) was First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, as the wife of President George H. W. Bush, and the founder of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. She previously was ...
to her husband's
inaugural
In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugur ...
ball.
In many instances, high-end fashion jewelry has achieved a "collectible" status and increased value over time. Today, there is a substantial secondary market for
vintage
Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...
fashion jewelry. The main collecting market is for 'signed pieces', that is pieces that have the maker's mark, usually stamped on the reverse. Amongst the most sought after are
Miriam Haskell
Miriam Haskell (July 1, 1899 – July 14, 1981) was an American designer of costume jewelry. With creative partner Frank Hess, she designed affordable pieces from 1920 through the 1960s. Her vintage items are eagerly collected and the namesake com ...
,
Coro
Coro or CORO may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Coro'' (Berio), a composition by Luciano Berio
* Coro (music), Italian for choir
* Coro TV, Venezuelan community television channel
* Omweso (Coro), mancala game played in the Lango region of Uganda
* ...
, Butler and Wilson, Crown Trifari, and Sphinx. However, there is also demand for good quality 'unsigned' pieces, especially if they are of an unusual design.
Business and industry
Costume jewelry is considered a discrete category of
fashion accessory
In fashion, an accessory is an item used to contribute, in a secondary manner, to an individual's outfit. Accessories are often chosen to complete an outfit and complement the wearer's look. They have the capacity to further express an individual ...
and displays many characteristics of a self-contained industry. Costume jewelry manufacturers are located throughout the world, with a particular concentration in parts of China and India, where entire citywide and region-wide economies are dominated by the trade of these goods. There has been considerable controversy in the United States and elsewhere about the lack of regulations in the manufacture of such jewelry—these range from
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
issues surrounding the treatment of labor, to the use of manufacturing processes in which small, but potentially harmful, amounts of
toxic metals
Metal toxicity or metal poisoning is the toxic effect of certain metals in certain forms and doses on life. Some metals are toxic when they form poisonous soluble compounds. Certain metals have no biological role, i.e. are not essential minerals, ...
are added during production. In 2010, the Associated Press released the story that toxic levels of the metal
cadmium
Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of ...
were found in children's jewelry. An
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
investigation found some pieces contained more than 80 percent of cadmium. The wider issues surrounding imports, exports, trade laws, and
globalization
Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
also apply to the costume jewelry trade.
As part of the
supply chain
In commerce, a supply chain is a network of facilities that procure raw materials, transform them into intermediate goods and then final products to customers through a distribution system. It refers to the network of organizations, people, acti ...
, wholesalers in the United States and other nations purchase costume jewelry from manufacturers and typically import or export it to wholesale distributors and suppliers who deal directly with retailers. Wholesale costume jewelry merchants will traditionally seek out new suppliers at
trade shows
A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and cu ...
. As the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
has become increasingly important in global trade, the trade-show model has changed. Retailers can now select from a large number of wholesalers with sites on the World Wide Web. The wholesalers purchase from international suppliers who are also available on the Web from different parts of the world like Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, Thai, and Indian jewelry companies, with their wide range of products in bulk quantities. Some of these sites also market directly to consumers who can purchase costume jewelry at greatly reduced prices. Some of these websites categorize
fashion jewelry
Costume or fashion jewelry includes a range of decorative items worn for personal adornment that are manufactured as less expensive ornamentation to complement a particular fashionable outfit or garmentBaker, Lillian. Fifty Years of Collectabl ...
separately, while others use this term in place of costume jewelry. The trend of jewelry-making at home by hobbyists for personal enjoyment or for sale on sites like
Etsy
Etsy, Inc. is an American e-commerce company focused on handmade or vintage items and craft supplies. These items fall under a wide range of categories, including jewelry, bags, clothing, home décor and furniture, toys, art, as well as craft su ...
has resulted in the common practice of buying wholesale costume jewelry in bulk and using it for parts.
There is a rise in demand for artificial or imitation jewelry by 85% due to the increase in gold prices, according to a 2011 report.
See also
*
Marcasite jewelry
Marcasite jewellery is jewellery made using cut and polished pieces of pyrite (fool's gold) as gemstone, and not, as the name suggests, from marcasite.
Both pyrite and marcasite are chemically iron sulphide, but differ in their crystal structur ...
References
{{reflist
Jewellery components