Timing is everything when selling vintage jewelry
Hair jewelry, from tiaras to pins and other accent pieces, has made a comeback recently, with three major names in jewelry reviving successful hair jewelry pieces from days gone by. If you’ve been hanging on to a piece of vintage jewelry—especially one made for the hair—now just might be the perfect time to sell.
The Plume de Chanel Returns
Coco Chanel radically transformed women’s fashion, tossing aside stiff corseted dresses in favor of simple yet elegant designs. Chanel’s first foray into jewelry in 1932 was similarly radical, and included such novelties as a diamond-fringed bandeau and several brooches made to be worn in the hair. The most famous of these hair brooches was the Plume de Chanel, a feathery shape that became a favorite motif. For the company’s 80th anniversary, many of the of the original 1932 jewelry designs have been revamped, including a spectacular white gold version of the Plume de Chanel hair piece with 832 brilliant-cut diamonds weighing 14.5 carats in total weight.
“Hair & Jewel” 2.0
Graff Diamonds also made headlines with hair jewelry, this time in the 1970s. The company launched a famous ad campaign featuring a young model with $1 million in diamond jewelry pinned into her hair. This was a drastic change from the more conservative style of typical diamond ads at the time. In 2013, Graff Diamonds recreated their famous “Hair & Jewel” ad, this time with almost half a billion dollars’ worth of diamond jewelry. At the same time, the company also released a more practical piece of hair jewelry, the Alice Band. This piece is a single delicate strand of 39 diamonds, sort of like a very discreet tiara.
A Cartier Favorite Returns
Ever since the heyday of the “Jazz Age,” Cartier has been known as the go-to designer for hair jewelry. This jewelry designer offered a mix of single-stone hair pins and ornate hair sticks at a time when these items had previously been very utilitarian. Soon a hair brooch was also introduced, with white gold and glittering diamonds. This particular brooch has recently been re-released, giving modern women a chance to also indulge in these jewels for making formal hairstyles more glamorous.
Selling Your Vintage Jewelry
In any piece of jewelry, the baseline value will be set by the quality and quantity of gold, diamonds, and other precious materials in the piece. However, if you own vintage jewelry pieces, especially from a well-known designer, popularity and demand for those particular pieces can affect their value. That’s why it’s important to keep an eye on trends before selling your vintage jewelry. Bring your vintage jewelry to Gems & Jewels Inc. for an appraisal. If you like our offer, you can walk out with cash for your vintage jewelry the very same day.
