Contemporary Lucite usually comes in solid colors. Happsh Simichrome polish for Bakelite testing (it’s also a really effective metal polish as it was made to do) is available on Amazon.com – free shipping with prime membership and I got mine in a day. Vintage or handmade costume jewelry pieces are not worthless, but when you want precious metals and stones, you don't want to be duped into thinking you have the real thing. It was very popular during the Art Deco period – 1920-1935. See more ideas about bakelite jewelry, bakelite, vintage bakelite. A few years ago a friend tipped me off to the fact that the “Awesome Cleaner” sold at Dollar Tree will remove verdigris from vintage metal costume jewelry; one wonders how many other handy ‘secrets’ their other products may hold. Also, the presence of paint or any type of glaze on the surface of the celluloid will act as a barrier to the generation of the camphor smell although not – unfortunately – to deformation by temperature. Lucite, a form of acrylic resin, appeared in many colors and styles of jewelry during the 1940s and 1950s. My search for true black bakelite continues….TY again for response. However, if a heat test for odor is used, cellulostics produce a vinegar-y smell due to the presence of acetic acid. I find using the Dollar Tree Chrome Polish works to test bakelite, catalin. Check if it has a "glow." However, it is now in a permanent form and even if heat is applied to it will remain “set” in that form and will not again return to its original soft (plastic) state. The cast phenolics appeared around 1930 but pretty much disappeared by 1950. The best and safest way to test and identify vintage plastics is with simichrome polish which you can purchase at most hardware stores. Thank you – how do I know when your next materials will be here? In 1915 Arlington was bought by E.I. Aug 29, 2017 - Explore Jewel Eureka's board "Identifying Stones in Vintage Costume Jewelry" on Pinterest. Casein was also sometimes used as one of the layers in certain laminated tortoise shell pieces such as small boxes or cigarette cases, making identification even more of a challenge. You can also see some in the book The Art of Juliana Jewelry on page 106 and 111. If dating is important to you (the age kind, not the social kind!) Genuine Bakelite … Widely considered the first synthetic plastic, Bakelite items are a hot commodity today among collectors of vintage jewelry and mechanical parts. And so it was with Celluloid, Bakelite and Lucite … all of which in their capitalized form are trademarked names BUT in today’s marketplace are used as “shorthand” terms for all plastics falling into the same chemical category. This last property led to its widespread use on warplane windows and canopies instead of the much heavier glass. When shopping for jewelry or jewelry supplies, it is often difficult to differentiate between glass beads and plastic beads. So let’s get started learning about vintage jewelry hardware. May 23, 2019 - Bakelite Jewelry and other plastics are included in this Board, including Lucite and various vintage pieces. It is important to be sure the piece is vintage, in good shape, and has a lot of brightly colored clean stones all set with prongs. Indian pieces use a variety of clasps. The jewelry was made popular by entertainers such as Carmen Miranda. Just click the Follow button (which will be in the righthand sidebar if you’re viewing on a computer, or down near the bottom of the screen if you’re on a mobile device) and a sign-up box will appear. Technically, an antique button is unlikely to be made of plastic. For this reason, sellers will often identify their jewelry as "D&E Juliana" Jewelry. It should be remembered, however, that not all transparent plastics are acrylics; celluloid, cellulose acetate, urea plastics, polystyrene and even an extremely rare type of Bakelite can also be found in that form. That’s an interesting suggestion, Mary, and I may do that at a later date. See more ideas about vintage costume jewelry, costume jewelry, vintage costumes. Of course, one great advantage of plastic is that if you have overspent (ahem!) One reason I decided against photo examples was that it might cause additional confusion if someone were to assume that every similar piece was a particular material: For example, that because a brooch is a certain shade of green it is galalith rather than something else; or that other examples of cellulose nitrate can’t look entirely different. If … By the way, genuine (not faux) jet can also be tested on white unglazed tile but that leaves a brown streak — not black. It is safer to rely on other factors such as color (a celluloid would never be seen in neon green, screaming magenta, hot pink, etc) and weight (celluloid is noticeably lighter). Instead, each piece had to be hand-cast and then carved, buffed and polished. Part 1: Vintage Jewelry Marks: Help for Dating Your Vintage Jewelry Part 2: Silver Jewelry Marks: Learn to Identify and Date Silver Jewelry Part 3: Vintage Jewelry Patents: Find and Use them to Date Vintage Jewelry. Although I haven’t written about the hard-case handbags, you will definitely find posts here showing examples of vintage celluloid jewelry for sure. Unfortunately I sold off about 150 lucite purses in the early days of eBay because I was having such problems with them decaying, Especially the tortoise colored ones. Here are some clues that a rhinestone piece is not a modern take on this classic style: It's not plastic. Eras of Old Plastic Jewelry. You’ll notice that I’ve only capitalized two of those names and there’s a reason for that. Have unique characteristics: the molded phenolics are thermoset plastics, i.e., formed! The differences between real and fake diamonds look for distinct features in Operculum. 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