Types of Vintage Plastic jewelry materials

Types of Vintage Plastic jewelry materials

We often tend to dismiss plastic as a jewelry making supply and consider it cheap but did you know that early forms of plastic and other natural occurring or synthetically created polymer jewelry were prized possession in the late 19th and early 20th century?  Did you know about the many different Types of Vintage Plastic jewelry materials?
During the 1920’s, Auguste Bonaz, a French merchant, produced unusually beautiful chains and brooches made of galalith, chromium and bakelite. Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli took the world by a storm with their costume jewelry that included beautiful plastics. How can we forget the retro Plastic jewelry of the eighties that was big, bold and completely out there? Still we shy away from it. With this thought in mind, I want to show you some beautiful Vintage jewelry from various Etsy Shops that are made out of plastic.

Art Deco Rootbeer Bakelite Spider Brooch

 

Art Deco Rootbeer Bakelite Spider Brooch from RhinestoneByrd

Bakelite: The first time I looked at a book on designer western costume jewelry in 2003 I found bakelite being used. I was shocked for as far I knew then bakelite was used to make electrical switches. Bakelite considered as The first true synthetic plastic was developed by Dr. Leo H Baekeland in 1909. Later in 1927 US Catalin corporation came up with transparent versions and coloring techniques such as marbling. Also known as Catalin, prystal, durez or marbelette these give off a distinct smell.

Carved Vintage Bakelite
Carved Vintage Bakelite Annular and Pink Rings byBakeliteMystique

Lucite – Lucite that is very commonly used to make lucite flowers was made as PMMA in 1930s as an alternative to glass. It was later marketed as plexiglass or perspex. Lucite is brighter and glossier compared to bakelite and is treasured for its transparency.

Faceted Lucite Starburst Flower Brooch
Faceted Lucite Starburst Flower Brooch from RhinestoneByrd

 Vulcanite:
Science nerds like me would recognise vulcanite – another special jewelry polymer. Developed through vulcanisation and Patented as ebonite it was often used in mourning jewelry as an alternative to ebony as it was originally made in black. Now you can find it in various colors too
 Polyvinyl Chloride resin commonly known as Vinyl or PVC is also a plastic that is a lost cost, water resistant, durable materials. Its most used for Piping now, though Vinyl records and flooring was common a few years back.

Types of Vintage Plastic jewelry materials
 African Vulcanite Tassel Bracelet, Vintage Vinyl from HappyGoLuckyJewels

Gutta percha– made from the sap of gutta tree like rubber gutta is used as an alternative to ebony and jet black

Gutta Percha Victorian Bracelet Hinged Bangle-  1850s Mourning Jewelry by boylerpf

Galalith
In 1898, Wilhelm Krische, was commissioned to develop white school boards that could be wiped off but that would not burn. This owner of a factory that made history books experimented with  the milk Protein casein and  formaldehyde and patented one of the first plastics – The “Milk Stone” or the Galalith. The milk stone could be cut, drilled, embossed and dyed producing gemstone imitations that looked strikingly real and was favoured by Coc chanel for her designs. Read more about this marvelous material at Ganoksin

Celluloid
 Known as“French Ivory” celluloid was invented in the late 19th century to make billiard balls, which were traditionally made of  ivory. Made using cellulose dinitrate blended with pigments, fillers, camphor and alcohol, celluloid is an extremely flammable substance,reported to emit fumes that can damage metal, specifically that used in jewelry and knife blades. Alexander Parkes is legally credited with inventing the process by which Celluloid is made and celluloid is still used to make guitar picks 

30s celluloid necklace 
30s celluloid necklace from vintagewise

Thus we come to the end of my list  of Types of Vintage Plastic jewelry materials but there are many more vintage and new age plastics that can be molded, dyed, cut or textured to create beautiful pieces. So tell me, do you use plastic in your work? If not, has this article changed your mind about considering it?

I hope you found it interesting 
Cheers

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17 responses to “Types of Vintage Plastic jewelry materials”

  1. Little Treasures avatar

    Thank you so much for the informative post! I still get hold of several pieces of plastic jewelry from the '80s. It was certainly the most prominent time for plastic jewelry in my opinion.

  2. motidana avatar

    A very interesting and informative post. Your collection of photos is absolutely gorgeous too , and shed a totally new light on this humble material!

  3. Alicia @ boylerpf avatar

    Love reading about all these old alternatives to metal jewelry! Thanks so much for featuring the gutta percha bracelet!

  4. Divya N avatar

    Thanks for visiting and commenting, hope we stay in touch

  5. Divya N avatar

    I wish I had some late 80's stuff that I bought as a kid with me still. But I gave all that away without knowing its value then

  6. Divya N avatar

    I found out about vintage plastics by chance, when I was going through a book on jewelry repair. It opened a whole new world for me

  7. JP avatar

    This is a wonderful article! Thank you so much for highlighting my Bakelite spider and Lucite flower. I shared your link with my facebook fans. https://www.facebook.com/RhinestoneByrd

  8. CREATIVE KHADIJA avatar

    Wow Divya.. such interesting and informative article 🙂 thanks for writing about it

  9. Divya N avatar

    I am glad, that you enjoyed it

  10. Michelle L. avatar

    A great topic! You know how I love plastic, I think my preference was inspired by these kinds of vintage designs.

  11. Divya N avatar

    Excepting lucite and Bakelite I have not seen other plastics before – so writing this article was a big learning for me

  12. bairozan avatar

    A lot of new info for me here! The items in the pictures look beautiful and not cheap at all, even though this is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think plastic.It's not only in people's minds, it just has to look more refined to be accepted, to my opinion.

  13. Cinnamon Jewellery avatar

    Great post! I remember the plastic jewellery of the 80's! The photos show plastic in all it's forms can look just as beautiful as natural materials.

  14. Divya N avatar

    Yes, it does have more to do with perceptions. For Instance, In India Old is just old, it is not vintage Unlike the west where it is a niche by itself. But here people will continue to used 'old' things as they have always used it. Its a matter of comfort, of availability and convenience rather than style

  15. Global Tree avatar

    Thank you so much for the informative post.

  16. Charlette avatar
    Charlette

    I have this olive green with swirls of brown and butterscotch yellow and ivory colored woven linked bracelet that has a rectangle with small bone colored cameo on it!! Its intricately woven alternating ivory and the olive green swirled i think its bakelike! But would like to know. I cant find this bracelet anywhere. Can you help me?

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      I am not sure, how it would be possible to recognise the materials without actually seeing and feeling it. Do you have a local antiques/vintage shop or a designer whom you could take it too for identification? If all fails do send me the picture by email/social media and I will take a look at it.

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