Lilolladystuff

People collect all types of vintage jewelry and figural jewelry is a favorite. There are probably as many reasons as variety of people out there, but they all are attracted to it for one reason or another.

Figural jewelry is exactly as its name implies jewelry made in the shape of a recognizable figure. Most often these are flowers, animals, birds, people, and everyday objects.

People collect figurals since they reflect their interest. Sometimes it coincides with their careers or jobs. A flower lover may enjoy collecting pins of flower shapes. This is one of the most popular shapes and almost any flower you can think of has been the inspiration for a brooch or pin. Bird lovers also will have a variety to choose from as will lovers of dogs, baskets, boats and butterflies. There are tons to choose form in varying degrees of value from the cheapest costume jewelry to fine jewelry set in gold and real gems.

A nutritionist might decide to collect fruit or vegetable pins. Believe it or not there are many. Apples and grapes are popular vintage patterns for pins and earrings. A veterinarian could find dog and cat pins to wear a different one each day of the year. Nowadays, if you wish to add newer more current jewelry, this area has expanded greatly.

Whatever you like or whatever statement you wish to make, there is jewelry to express it. Abstract shapes are pretty, but figurals are really much more fun so grab an umbrella or fan pin or possibly a car pin and let the world see what excites you.

When collecting vintage jewelry it would be very worthwhile to learn about the different eras of jewelry making. This is a long and intense study you should undertake if you are serious about collecting vintage and antique jewelry.

It is not a topic we can cover in the short space of this blog, but we can establish a starting point for more study.

From 1850-1900 was the Victorian period, next came the Art Nouveau period which reigned from1895 – 1910. That was followed by the Edwardian period from 1901-1910. Art Deco comes next between 1920 and 1930. Art modern followed that period from 1935-1945. Next came the period of Modern Jewelry from 1950. I have gleaned these descriptions from a great book for collecting vintage jewelry called 100 Years of Collectible Jewelry written by Lillian Baker. It has lots of photos and is a very good identification guide. You will notice that some of these time periods overlap and some are very short. This is, however, a good guideline for determining age basically by style, materials, and closures.

This book says that the transitions in styles were often very subtle so one period really gently included the next at times.

For the next few days we will examine each of these periods a bit closer.