Vintage Jewelry and it's Current Beauties...

"It is easily overlooked that what is now  called vintage was once brand new."- Visconti

 How well do you know your jewelry?  In addition to all the cuts that engagement rings come in (i.e., princess cut, marquise cut, emerald cut, etc), there are so many other jewelry terms out there,  it’s hard to keep track!  I've even seen words in a necklace or bracelet descriptions but wasn’t really sure what it was or how to pronounce it. Today I’m going to dispel some of that mystery for you. And after you’re done reading, you can impress some people with what you know, I know I will :)  About as vintage as I used to go was the 60's... but we're about to take a time machine to the 1920's.

• Briolette, is a stone that is multifaceted all around. If there are no facets with just a smooth surface, we would just call it briolette-shaped or pear-shaped. (Faceting is the art of cutting and polishing fine gems... Aren't they beautiful?

   

  

• Cameo, is a piece of jewelry has been in style for centuries. Genuine vintage cameo rings are hand-carved and made of shell or other natural substances such as ivory, lava, glass or stone. The foreground is a silhouette or face, while the background is a different-colored layer. My sister loves these pieces, she integrates them into her wardrobe all the time, they're timeless as pearls.



• Marquise cut, It’s pronounced “mar-keys” and it reminds me of our eyes, tapered on both ends. A marquise-cut stone is faceted, but here we might describe any jewelry with the shape as marquise-cut. The name is from Marquise de Pompadour, Mistress of King Louis XV. Who knew a mistress could revolutionize jewelry forever?

•  Cabochon, which to me reminds me of a lady bug :) It's pronounced (ka-boshon) and comes from the French term “caboche” which means “head.” Does that have anything to do with cabbage? or a head of lettuce, let me know... Anyway,I love the smooth surface that a cabochon has. (And I love how the word makes me sound really important)! The back of the cut stone is usually flat or hollowed out and encased and made into pendants or put onto bracelets. I've seen the hipster community bringing them even into barettes and rings. They are my favoite so far.

These vintage pieces have such beauty in the detail of the period but combined with today's fashion can offer fresh design interpretations to fit today’s styles and fashions...

I hope we learned together how the past and the present can fuse when it comes to jewelry.