Dating Antique, Vintage and Collectible Jewelry takes some detective work. You can usually date the piece of jewelry by the signature. I use these two different websites to identify and date a designer’s signature.

They are [URL removed] and [URL removed]

There are also some great Jewelry Reference Books available for your use. I use Collecting Costume Jewelry 101, the basics of starting, building, and upgrading, Identification and Value Guide by Julia C. Carroll and Collectible Silver Jewelry Identification and Value Guide by Fred Rezazadeh. If you don’t want to purchase these Collectible Books you can always go to your public library and see if they are available. I hope this helps.

I have a book called How to Be A jewelry Detective, I use it all the time

via Google for research

The vintage jewelry that I have listed came from my Mom’s estate and things she inherited from gr-aunts, gr-mothers, etc. She passed back in 1999 at the wonderful age of 87, but many times I can remember her wearing an item at a particular time while I was growing up. If there’s a hallmark or it’s signed, I track down that company’s website and write them a short note asking if they have any information on when a particular design was launched. I also send them a link to a photo (on my own website) of the item if I can’t find it on their website. If all the above fails, I head to places like eBay, IOffer and several other selling sites and try to find pricing.

Signed items are not that hard to find information about if you take the time to look. There are lots of books and resources on the net for those items.

The unsigned items are harder. You have to take a very hard look at the style, types of materials used, and the way it is put together. Some items can be dated based on the clasps, the cut of the stones, or the secondary materials used (like the backing on a pin). Style is a little harder as many eras have had a rebirth since their creation so don’t base your evaluation on just the style. With some research you can figure out a pretty accurate date based on these clues. Look at verified items from the era you think it is and note anything that stands out. If all else fails, ask someone for their opinion. A second set of eyes never hurts.

A lot of jewelry items can be identified by their hallmarks (if they have one) which helps to give you a time frame from which the particular piece is from. There are also ways to date a piece by it’s clasp or hinge work…certain clasps and hinge work were used during certain time periods. Also the type of material used in the jewelry making process will help date a piece. Various metals and finishes have been used throughout the years. The types of stones and cuts used can help identify time periods as well. The various books and online search options as stated above are always a good reference source. I’ve been doing this for over 20 years and I still have to research every now and then…but that’s the fun of it…it’s always great to “discover” something new!

When I go to garage or estate sales and find a nice piece, I ask the person selling it if they have any idea what year it was made it. Then I research it from there.

Go to your local library and look at books for vintage jewelry or even some anitque books carry vintage jewelry. Let me know when you put them up for sale.