Posts Tagged ‘vintage necklace’

The Vintage Necklace Guide

February 11th, 2010

Including a vintage necklace into your wardrobe or jewelry box is a smart idea as they provide for a unique approach to style and fashion. As for what actually constitutes vintage necklaces is open to debate for many people as it has more so to do with the design of the necklaces and not so much as far as what is used to create it. There are all sorts of different types of these necklaces and below are just a few of the most popular types. For the purposes of this article, keep in the back of your mind that there are exceptionally pieces of jewelry that are crafted using vintage parts – the necklaces below are more so focusing in on the design of vintage necklaces of the past.

Vintage Pearl Necklace – Pearls are perhaps the best place to start when it comes to considering a vintage necklace. In the past, if you owned pearls it was a tell-tale sign that you were part of the upper ranks of society and that you enjoyed the benefits of a great lift. Without chance, pearls quickly became the standard fashion accessory of choice if you could afford it. Necklaces today are still made with their vintage heritage in mind and are still one of the most sought after types of necklaces to date.

Vintage Rhinestone Necklace – It is important to first understand exactly what rhinestone is before getting started on this part. Rhinestone is an imitation diamond that is made from crystal or glass. Depending on the manufacturer of the rhinestone, they can range from looking very cheap to being right up to par with regular diamonds. In the spirit of all things vintage, rhinestone was used on a lot of the jewelry made and worn by people from the 60s to the 70s. Famous icons such as Elvis and Michael Jackson wore outfits adorned with rhinestones during their performances.

Vintage Crystal Necklace – There were two main groups of people who wore these types of necklaces. The affluent members of society coveted this type of vintage necklace and wore them long before our concept of “vintage” even existed. In and around the 60s and 70s people who were part of the hippie culture cherished crystal necklaces or materials that imitated it. In modern times you can find a lot of jewelry makers who will fashion necklaces like this will all sorts of vintage patterns and designs.

Vintage Bead Necklace – These are still wildly popular today. It again goes without saying that these necklaces gained their prominence and popularity many years ago as they were worn by and represented the freedom and drive of many of America’s up and coming subcultures and groups as you could imagine. These types of necklaces feature all sorts of different combinations of colors, beads, patterns and strings combined into one necklace. Making one of these yourself isn’t hard but you can certainly find these already made.

Vintage Locket Necklace – There is nothing more vintage or even antique then the locket. The locket has become an icon of what something means to be vintage. These were used years ago to store photos and paintings of family and loved ones and have not gone out of usage yet.