Antique and vintage jewellery has always stood apart. during a world seemingly hooked into the newest innovations and cutting-edge technologies, these pieces – meticulously crafted by hand, built to last, often one-of-a-kind – offer a compelling contrast that appeals to a little, yet passionate subset of consumers.
It is important to notice that in jewellery terms, ‘antique’ refers to jewellery that’s quite 100 years old. ‘Vintage’ is usually wont to describe pieces made 50–99 years within the past.
“There has always been a following for antique and vintage jewellery,” confirms Kathryn Wyatt, owner of Imogene Antique & Contemporary Jewellery in Melbourne and publicity and marketing officer at the Gemmological Association of Australia (GAA).
Far from being the province of older consumers motivated by nostalgia, the antique and vintage category features a broad following.
The illustrated jeweller, that placed Antique Jewellery Shops in Brighton – which stocks vintage and antique jewellery alongside modern collections – says, “We sell to newly- engaged couples buying vintage rings, younger people in their late teens and early twenties, and other people in their eighties and nineties.
“There’s certainly a good range, and that we have even seen a couple of younger gentlemen buying pocket watches.”
Wyatt tells Jeweller, “Certainly, there are younger people under 30 who are looking to take a position in jewellery, and older people too. The people that buy pieces from me say, ‘I want something unique; they don’t want the mass-produced jewellery that each one of their friends has. they need something different.”
Indeed, it’s that ‘one-off’ quality that pulls Gerard McCabe customers toward the antique section antique jewellers Brighton.
“The pieces themselves have tons of character,” says Justin McCabe. “There may be a distinction between them and modern jewellery. Many of our modern designs are available suites and collections, and that they are often more streamlined and stackable.
“Whereas the pieces of the past are just that one piece, with tons of creativity and workmanship, and if you’ll find something special that’s in great condition and speaks a story to you, it’s like finding treasure.”
The illustrated jeweller, of Antique Jewellery Shops in Brighton – which deals in antique and vintage jewellery and Rings in Brighton – also observes that antiques cut across age demographics, appealing equally to both men and ladies.
He notes the “uniqueness” and “romantic feel” of older pieces, particularly those from the Victorian era.
Caroline Tickner, of firm Leonard Joel, points to the standard of antique jewellery as a serious point.
“Valuable antique jewellery is fundamentally supported beauty, craftsmanship and rarity,” she explains. “Some of the techniques undertaken by jewellers within the 19th Century verge on being lost artisan skills.
“Workmanship like enamelling, pietra dura, and cannetille are highly specialised sorts of decoration that few can replicate.”
Marlene Crowther, of Keshett in Melbourne, adds, “Antique Jewellery Shops in Brighton combines numerous appealing elements it might be harder to seek out reasons why it might not appeal to consumers than why it does!”
“The sort of different periods is captured in precious metals and gems. people that are likely to shop for antique jewellery are those with imagination – those that can allow themselves to be transported to a different time once they contemplate a gorgeous work of art,” she explains.
Crowther believes Antique Jewellery Shops in Brighton lovers “feel privileged to possess custody of a fine antique piece of jewelry and may imagine those that owned it before and people who will own it next,” adding, “Antique Jewellery Shops in Brighton may be a celebration of fearlessness, creativity, and wonder stretching before and beyond us.”
Aside from romance, craftsmanship, and history, Wyatt also points to the environmentally-conscious nature of the category:“My customers just like the idea of shopping for something that’s ‘recycled’. Antiques are sustainable; they already made their tiny ‘carbon footprint’ years ago, and if they’ve lasted 100 years, they’re usually getting to last a good bit longer!”