Five Things To Know About Vintage Jewellery Composition

I get asked a lot of questions about the materials used in vintage jewellery. It’s really hard to pinpoint exactly what the composition of each piece is as it depends on its age maker and whether it has any distinguishing marks. I’ve put this little blog post together and it will hopefully provide a little bit of insight.

1. You will often see costume jewellery described as wither gold tone, gold plate, gold filled or vermeil.

   Gold tone means that a coating of gold was applied to a base metal, but usually it’s not clear which of the below methods was used.

   Gold wash means a very thin coating of gold that is applied to the base metal.

   Gold plate means the piece has a layer of gold that is less than 1/20th of the total weight.

   Gold filled means the piece has a layer of gold that is at least 1/20th of the total weight

   Vermeil means that a sterling silver piece has been gilded with gold.

2. Base metals are considered the opposites of precious metals (such as gold, platinum and silver). They are much more economical as the elements they contain are more commonly found. Some of the base metals used in vintage costume jewellery include: brass, copper, zinc, nickel, and aluminium.

3. Nickel is the number one allergy internationally, but also the most widely used metal alloy. Stainless Steel contains trace amounts of nickel and iron so can cause a reaction to those with super sensitive skin. Allergic to copper? You may also be allergic to metal alloys that include copper, that means rose gold is out as it contains a mixture of gold and copper to achieve its pinkish hue.

   A lot of the piece I stock use brass as the base metal that has been coated with either sterling silver, or gold. Brass is actually an alloy of copper and zinc, so if you’re allergic to brass it’s a fair bet that you’re allergic to copper too.

4. Cleaning vintage costume jewellery is a little bit more of a delicate job than cleaning fine jewellery. Invest in a baby toothbrush and clean your piece gently, if you need some extra help use wood tooth picks to get into all the fiddly bits. Give it a final rub with a micro fibre cloth to bring out the shine.
   Need a little more of a deep clean? make for a homemade solution of liquid soap and warm water - one part solution to three parts of water. Dip the toothbrush in the solution, tap the head to get rid of the excess water and follow steps above

   If you need a bit more fire power you could substitute soap and water for a mix of vinegar, bicarbonate of soda and water. Make sure you rinse it well, I doubt vinegar will ever take off as a fragrance!

5. There are certain stamps and marks you may see on vintage jewellery, this list is by no means exhaustive, but these are probably the most common: 

   925 - Sterling silver

   800 - Silver  

   STERLING - an older sterling mark

   GF - Gold filled 

   GP - Gold plated 

   325 - Gold

   585 (14K) European Gold mark 

   750 (18K) European Gold mark