The 1950s were a golden age of glamorous costume jewelry. From sparkling rhinestones and faux pearls to iconic designers, let's discover the vintage 1950s jewelry that collectors and resellers are still searching for today!
Jewelry Jumpstart
Jewelry Bestie
[00:00:00] Welcome to the Jewelry Resellers Podcast, your go-to source for all things shiny, sparkly, and of course, profitable. I'm your host, Desiree, and I'll be your guide on this dazzling journey through the world of reselling jewelry. We'll be diving deep into the art and science of reselling, uncovering valuable tips, insider secrets, and sharing stories from successful jewelry resellers. We'll explore market trends, industry news, and even discuss
[00:00:30] how to find those hidden gems just waiting to be discovered in thrift stores, estate sales, and beyond. So, if you're dreaming of turning your hobby into a hustle, or if you're a seasoned pro looking to stay at the top of your jewelry reselling game, join me each week for insights, stories, and more on the Jewelry Resellers Podcast.
[00:00:51] The 1950s may have been the golden age of fake jewelry, and everyone wanted it. This was the era of Hollywood glamour. Movie stars appeared on screen, dripping in diamonds, pearls, and sparkling jewels, creating an image of glamour that millions of women saw in theaters and magazines.
[00:01:19] Marilyn Monroe famously sang that diamonds were a girl's best friend, Elizabeth Taylor was becoming one of Hollywood's biggest stars, and Grace Kelly seemed to embody elegance itself. But most women watching them were not movie stars. They didn't have Hollywood salaries, and they certainly didn't have Hollywood jewelry collections.
[00:01:46] But what they did have was a booming costume jewelry industry. By the 1950s, jewelry makers were creating spectacular rhinestones, imitation pearls, colored glass, and even plastic jewelry that could give an ordinary woman a little bit of that Hollywood sparkle.
[00:02:08] And this was jewelry that was beautifully designed and constructed and made by companies whose names vintage jewelry collectors still hunt for today. So that's the direction we're going in in this episode, Jewelry Friends. Hello, my name is Desiree, and I am your Jewelry Reselling Bestie.
[00:02:31] Now, the 1950s jewelry has a fascinating story because this was a time when costume jewelry simply wasn't trying to be an inexpensive substitute for the real thing. Designers were actually creating elaborate rhinestone necklaces and dramatic brooches and colorful glass jewelry,
[00:02:57] even matching sets that women were clamoring to wear. Some of the biggest names in vintage costume jewelry were producing incredible pieces during this era, and today, certain pieces from the 1950s can still be very desirable to collectors. But knowing what's worth picking up means knowing exactly what you're looking at,
[00:03:22] because plenty of jewelry from this period was never signed or marked at all. So we're going to look at the styles that defined 1950s jewelry, the materials that were everywhere, the designers you need to know, and some of the clues that can help you recognize a potentially special piece when you find one. So before we get into that,
[00:03:48] you know I'd like to always remind you to make sure you visit our website, JewelryResellersPodcast.com, because over there you can opt in to our newsletter. And when you do that, you'll get instant access to a download that I created, and it's titled The 20 Best-Selling Vintage Jewelry Brands That I Think All Resellers Should Know. So to understand how costume jewelry became such a big part of fashion in the 1950s,
[00:04:17] we actually have to go back a few years. World War II ended in 1945, and America was entering a very different time period. But when the war ended, the mood suddenly began to change. In 1947, Christian Dior debuted his first collection, including the silhouette that became known as the New Look.
[00:04:44] So the look was actually controversial at first, but it quickly became enormously influential. And by the early 1950s, fashion had moved decisively toward a more polished and feminine silhouette. So jewelry became part of completing that look. Women wore brooches on dresses and coats, earrings framed carefully styled hair,
[00:05:09] necklaces filled open necklines and bracelets and matching jewelry sets helped create the coordinated appearance that became so closely associated with the decade. But fashion magazines and department store displays weren't the only places women were seeing these glamorous, new, and exciting looks. They were also seeing them at the movies.
[00:05:36] In 1953, Marilyn Monroe appeared in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes performing Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend, surrounded by men in tuxedos as she appeared covered in sparkling jewels. It became one of the most iconic images of 1950s Hollywood glamour. And of course, the average woman watching Marilyn Monroe on a movie screen wasn't going home to a jewelry box
[00:06:05] filled with diamonds, but she could buy rhinestones. She could buy imitation pearls. She could buy colored glass that looked like rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. And she could buy beautifully designed costume jewelry from companies that had become very good at creating glamour without using precious gemstones. Now, this distinction is important because the 1950s costume jewelry
[00:06:33] had become much more than simply a cheap imitation of fine jewelry. Companies were employing talented designers and experimenting with materials and producing jewelry in an enormous range of styles and prices. And women weren't necessarily buying these pieces because they couldn't afford something better. They were buying them because costume jewelry had become fashionable in its own way.
[00:07:05] So what did all of this glamour actually look like? If there was one word that describes a lot of jewelry of the 1950s, it might be sparkle. Rhinestones were everywhere. Clear stones could create the appearance of diamonds, while colored rhinestones gave women the look of precious gemstones without anything close to the price.
[00:07:33] And by the middle of the decade, rhinestone jewelry became even more colorful. In 1956, Swarovski introduced Aurora Borealis crystal, creating a special coating that gave the stones an iridescent rainbow-like finish. The effect worked perfectly with the glamorous, colorful, costume jewelry of the period. Aurora Borealis rhinestones would become one of the materials
[00:08:03] that many collectors now associate with vintage jewelry from the 1950s and the 1960s. Rhinestones appeared on necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and brooches, and the pieces were anything but subtle. Elaborate bib necklaces covered the neckline with rows of sparkling stones. Bracelets could be wide and heavily decorated. And earrings climbed up the ear
[00:08:32] or dangled right below it. And then there were brooches. Now, brooches were one of the most important jewelry accessories of the decade. Women pinned them to dresses and sweaters and jackets and coats. And designers produced them in almost every style you could imagine. Flowers were, of course, especially popular, but there were also leaves and bows,
[00:09:03] birds, animals, insects, and elaborate abstract designs. Now, another essential part of the 1950s jewelry box was the pearl necklace. Pearls fit perfectly with the polished and feminine image of the decade. Hollywood stars wore them, fashionable women wore them, the first lady wore them, and thanks to imitation pearls, women didn't need to own the real thing
[00:09:32] to get the same look. Now, the other trending thing in the 1950s jewelry was matching jewelry sets. And this was an important part of the polished look of the 1950s. A woman might own a necklace with matching earrings and a bracelet or brooch made in the same design. A complete matching jewelry set is known as a perure, while a smaller matching set,
[00:10:02] such as a brooch and earrings, is usually called a demi-perure. And for collectors and resellers today, finding those pieces still together can be important. Individual pieces from a set often get separated over the years, so finding a complete set can make it more valuable to collectors. But there was another source of costume jewelry that most women
[00:10:30] would never get the chance to own, and that was the jewelry being made for Hollywood itself. So here's something really interesting. Even the jewelry that women were seeing on the big screen wasn't always the real thing. Hollywood studios used costume jewelry to create those extravagant looks, and there were jewelry designers who actually specialized in creating pieces
[00:11:00] specifically for the movies. And we'll talk about one of the most famous a bit later. But that's what makes the relationship between Hollywood and costume jewelry especially interesting. The jewelry women saw on screen wasn't always what it appeared to be. Hollywood was creating an illusion of glamour, and costume jewelry makers had become especially good at creating that same illusion
[00:11:29] for everyone else. So one of the reasons costume jewelry became so exciting during the 1950s was that designers weren't limited to diamonds, gold, and precious gemstones. They could work with materials that gave them an enormous amount of freedom. Things like glass, crystal, plastic, enamel, and imitation pearls could all be transformed into something very glamorous.
[00:11:57] And glass was especially important during this time period as well because jewelry makers had access to beautifully made glass stones and beads in an incredible range of colors and shapes and finishes. Some were designed to imitate expensive gemstones while others weren't trying to imitate anything found in nature at all. And then there were plastics. Now plastic jewelry certainly wasn't
[00:12:26] new in the 1950s. Bakelite, celluloid, and other early plastics had already been used extensively in previous decades. But by the 1950s, newer plastics were helping to create a very different look. Lucite was one of them. It could be clear, opaque, translucent, or brightly colored, and it could be molded into bangles, beads, earrings, and other shapes. So this is where the 1950s jewelry
[00:12:56] starts to move beyond simply imitating fine jewelry because a clear rhinestone necklace may have been designed to give a woman the appearance of diamonds, but a brightly colored molded plastic necklace wasn't necessarily pretending to be anything else. Costume jewelry was becoming a fashion category all on its own.
[00:13:27] gold tone and silver tone metals were very common along with brass and other base metals. Rhodium plating could give costume jewelry a bright silvery finish that worked beautifully with clear rhinestones. And even sterling silver was still being used in some pieces as well. So now let's talk about some of the names every jewelry collector and reseller should know. Of course, none of this
[00:13:56] jewelry appeared out of nowhere behind some of the most beautiful costume jewelry of the 1950s were designers and companies that had already spent years perfecting the art of creating glamour without precious gemstones. And nowhere was the connection between costume jewelry and Hollywood glamour more apparent than in the work of Usain Joseph, the man behind Joseph of Hollywood. Joseph began
[00:14:26] creating jewelry for the movie industry during the 1930s and developed a special matte metal finish that worked particularly well under powerful bright studio lights. His company created elaborate necklaces, brooches, bracelets, earrings, and other pieces that appeared in hundreds of Hollywood films. Joseph's jewelry could transform an actor into royalty, an aristocrat, or an impossibly
[00:14:56] glamorous movie star. Because these pieces were designed for the screen, they could be dramatic with large stones, ornate metal work, and historical influences creating jewelry meant to make a huge impact on camera. Today, Joseph of Hollywood Jewelry has a strong collector following, and for resellers, the name is absolutely worth remembering. So outside of
[00:15:26] the movie studios, one of the biggest names in American costume jewelry was Trafari. Trafari had been producing jewelry long before the 1950s, but by this period, it had become one of the most recognizable names in the industry. One of the people who helped establish that reputation was designer Alfred Philippe, who had previously worked for fine jewelry houses before joining Trafari. His experience influenced the company's
[00:15:55] sophisticated designs, detailed metal work, and carefully set stones. Trafari produced an enormous variety of jewelry during this period, including rhinestone necklaces and bracelets, earrings and brooches, and matching sets. Some designs closely echoed the appearance of fine jewelry, while others embraced the creativity that only costume jewelry could accommodate. Another giant
[00:16:25] during this time was Koro. Koro was one of America's largest costume jewelry manufacturers and produced jewelry under several names and lines, including Koro, Koro Craft, and Vendôme. During the 1950s, Koro also expanded its higher-end Vendôme line, which featured more sophisticated designs using beads and crystals and other decorative materials. Vendôme would
[00:16:55] eventually become a separate subsidiary of Koro and develop its own identity in the costume jewelry market. Next, we definitely need to talk about Miriam Haskell, whose jewelry had a very different look. Haskell became known for elaborate combinations of faux pearls, glass beads, flowers, filigree, and intricate hand-wired construction.
[00:17:25] Rather than simply trying to reproduce diamonds and precious gemstones, her jewelry often celebrated the decorative possibilities of costume jewelry materials. Next, let's talk about Shriner jewelry that really pushed the creativity even further. Founded by Henry Shriner in New York, Shriner became known for dramatic designs, unusual color combinations, and unconventional
[00:17:55] use of stones. Some pieces featured large glass stones, layered construction, and rhinestones deliberately set upside down so that their pointed backs became part of the design. The result could be bold, dimensional, and sometimes almost theatrical. And more than 70 years later, much of it is still out there. The challenge is knowing what you're looking at when you find it.
[00:18:25] So, what should resellers and collectors actually be looking for when it comes to jewelry from the 1950s? Because plenty of the jewelry from this decade is still relatively inexpensive, but some pieces from designers we've just talked about can sell for considerably more. And this is where it gets interesting because the name on the back doesn't always tell you what a piece is worth. The design, rarity,
[00:18:54] and collector demand can make an enormous difference in value and reselling price. So, let's take a look at some examples. Of course, like we mentioned, Miriam Haskell is a good place to start. Some of the more elaborate necklaces, bracelets, brooches, and matching sets can command pretty impressive prices, particularly when the design is unusual or highly desirable.
[00:19:25] We also mentioned Shriner, and that can bring pretty strong prices as well, particularly for the dramatic statement pieces that collectors associate with the brand. And Trafari is a perfect example of why the maker's name alone doesn't determine value. Trafari produced an enormous amount of jewelry over many decades. Some pieces remain relatively inexpensive,
[00:19:55] while the desirable Alfred Philippe designs, unusual figurals and harder-to-find pieces, can sell for considerably more. And Coro works much the same way. There's plenty of inexpensive Coro jewelry on the market, but certain Coro craft and Vendôme pieces can attract much more collector interests. Finally, Joseph of Hollywood
[00:20:25] is another name worth stopping for, particularly because of the company's connection to Hollywood and the collector market surrounding its distinctive designs. But we also have to remember that signed designer jewelry isn't the only 1950s jewelry worth researching. Elaborate figural brooches, unusual glass stones, dramatic rhinestone designs,
[00:20:54] and exceptional unsigned pieces can also attract buyers, particularly when the design itself stands out. And of course, matching sets are another category worth watching because necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and brooches often get separated over the years. And so finding an original set still together can make it considerably more interesting and more
[00:21:24] valuable to buyers. So the biggest takeaway is that there isn't one price for 1950s jewelry because some pieces remain inexpensive. Others have developed serious collector followings. The difference is knowing which designers designs and materials buyers and collectors are actively searching for today. So when a piece of 1950s costume jewelry turns
[00:21:53] up at an estate sale or a thrift store or inside an old jewelry box, the question isn't simply whether it's old. The question is whether you've found one of the pieces collectors still want today. The 1950s became an important decade for costume jewelry because glamour was no longer reserved for the wealthy or the Hollywood elite.
[00:22:24] Today, the best pieces from this era are collected not because they successfully imitated fine jewelry, but because they represent an important period in jewelry design. The 1950s may have been the golden age of fake jewelry. But by the end of the decade, costume jewelry had proven it didn't need to be real to be valuable.
[00:22:53] So let me know your thoughts on this one, jewelry friends. You know I always love reading your stories and your comments. Thank you so much for spending this time with me and I'll check in with you again really soon.