Lucite Jewelry: Identifying Varieties or Types

Bakelite and Catalin are thermoset plastic brand names.


This is a fabulous explanation of Lucite types.  Full credit goes to poodlearts on Ebay.

Lucite is the queen of diversity, appearing in many forms, colors and styles in jewelry from the 1940's on, although it was most popular during the '40's and '50's.  It is an acrylic resin, and one type of  thermoset plastic (Bakelite is another, although Bakelite is a phenol formaldehye resin).  A brief aside here to clear up a point - the term 'thermoset' does NOT refer to a specific form or style of plastic; it is a broad-based term referring to any plastic that, once heated and formed, cannot be melted down and reformed.

And so, the purpose here is to illustrate a variety of the forms of lucite that you might come across.  Although clear in its original state, like the apple pendant above, lucite can be tinted virtually any color, in ranges from transparent to opaque, with a few interesting variations along the way.

The Basics:  Solid-Color Lucite - Solid colors are used for many purposes; white lucite can look like milk glass in a pair of earrings; black lucite can be used like onyx; many pieces have been carved or molded to add interest.  Pictured is a navy bangle with carved accents, a bright yellow bangle, a pair of blue earrings with a molded pattern, and a necklace with solid-color turquoise beads.

   

Moonglow Lucite - Probably one of the most popular forms of lucite, Moonglow pieces look as if lit from within, and come in a complete range of colors, as well as being used in almost all forms of jewelry - from beads to bangles to insets in earrings, brooches and necklaces.  The first picture is a pair of simple lilac-purple clipback button earrings; the other photos show an assortment of colors and sizes of beads.

Confetti Lucite - Confetti Lucite encompasses a wide range of variations, all basically a transparent form of lucite with chips or glitter encased.  The first illustration is a classic blue confetti lucite button; the second is a red glitter-encased lucite pendant.  The third is a brooch set with a classic example of an opal lucite cabachon.

Granite Lucite - A beautiful variation, granite lucite is normally opaque, with 'chunks' or bits of lucite in varying colors that emulate the look of granite - but in a wide variety of colors.  elow shows a cuff bracelet with a green granite lucite cabachon, and an interesting white variation with blue and orange in a pair of earrings from Japan.

Embedded Lucite

This form usually uses clear lucite over embedded objects - small seashells, flowers, rhinestones, whatever the artists could come up with.  The example below is a pair of earrings with tiny flowers embedded under clear lucite.

Molded Lucite - Actually, this term probably covers most lucite pieces.  However, I am using it here with jewelry that uses multiple pieces.  These pieces are often referred to as 'thermoset', which is why I've included them here.  These molded pieces may use any of  the varieties shown above, and moonglow lucite is one of the most popular forms, especially in earrings and necklaces.   Shown below are several pairs of earrings that use a variety of colors and shapes.

Other Variations - These are many other variations I've come across, although they are less common than those covered above. A few are illustrated below - the first is a necklace with 'marbled' beads that look almost like unakite in coloring.  The turquoise cabachons are a combination of granite lucite and webbing.  The pearls are actually two varieties; the smaller pearls are a pearlescent lucite, while the larger baroque pearls have a pearl coating over lucite.  And finally, the blue beads combine marbling with moonglow lucite - a striking combination!.

Hattie Carnegie

Hattie Carnegie (15 March 1880 — 22 February 1956) was a fashion entrepreneur based in New York City from the 1920s to the 1960s. She was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary as Henrietta Kanengeiser.

The second oldest of seven children, Hattie Carnegie's father was an Austrian Jewish artist and tailor, thought to have introduced her to the world of fashion.

Carnegie, who emigrated with her family to the United States at the age of six years old in 1886, was known for her elegant couture collection and secondary ready-to-wear lines. Her company was revolutionary in the sense that it was one of the first to introduce ready-to-wear to the high-end market. She pioneered the 'head-to-hem' boutique concept that paved the way for the future success of Ralph Lauren in America. Her company discovered some of the most prominent American fashion designers of the twentieth century, such as Norman Norell, Pauline Trigère and James Galanos; for nearly a decade, the made-to-order department was headed by Pauline Fairfax Potter.

Hattie Carnegie was originally a milliner and owned a successful shop on East Tenth Street in New York named Carnegie - Ladies' Hatter . Despite the fact she had never sewed a seam in her life and had no formal training, she swiftly opened a dress shop on the Upper West Side and finally in 1923, she opened the famous Hattie Carnegie boutique at 42 East 49th street, close to the current address of Saks Fifth Avenue.

Carnegie enjoyed tremendous success throughout her career but the proudest moment came when she designed the Women's Army Corps (WAC) uniform in 1950. They were adopted for wear on New Year's Day 1951. On 1 June 1952, Hattie received the Congressional Medal of Freedom for the WAC uniform design and for her many other charitable and patriotic contributions. The WAC design was so timelessly elegant that it was still in use for women's U.S. Army uniforms in 1968.

Hattie Carnegie designs are in the collection holdings of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; and at the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History in Boynton Beach, Florida.

"Simple, Beautiful Clothes"

Carnegie's belief in simplicity fit perfectly with the streamlining of 1930s design. She believed that "simple, beautiful clothes … enhance the charm of the woman who wears them. If you have a dress that is too often admired, be suspicious of it." The dress, she insisted, must fit and not overpower the woman who wears it. She was unabashedly devoted to Paris fashion and made regular buying trips throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Yet while she was a self-declared Francophile, she adapted French style to American tastes by offering a blend of style and comfort that suited many fashion-conscious Americans who still wanted their clothes to have a French flair.

Designing for the Middle Class

Carnegie's expensive original designer clothes were out of reach for many Americans, but this did not limit her influence on American design. Hers were among some of the most widely copied designs by popularly priced designers. As the decade wore on, Carnegie added a modestly priced, ready-to-wear line of clothing that proved to be the most lucrative of her enterprises. She made her modestly priced clothes more available to the average consumer by permitting some department stores to carry the new line, breaking from her usual practice of selling her clothes at her own shop. This practice secured her influence over both haute couture and popular wear.

For decades Hattie Carnegie's personal taste and fashion sense influenced the styles worn by countless American women. Whether they bought her imported Paris models, the custom designs, the ready-to-wear collections, or the mass market copies of her work, women welcomed Carnegie's discreet good taste as a guarantee of sophistication and propriety. Carnegie's business ability and fashion acumen enabled her to build a small millinery shop into a wholesale and retail clothing and accessory empire and made her name synonymous with American high fashion for almost half a century.

Carnegie's place in fashion history was assured not because of her own designs, but because of her talent for choosing or refining the designs of others. Between the World Wars, the list of couturiers whose models she imported included Lanvin, Vionnet, Molyneux, and Mainbocher—classic stylists—but also select creations for Chanel and Patou, Schiaparelli, and Charles James. In fact, Carnegie claimed in an April 1949 Collier's article to have had a three-year unauthorized exclusive on selling Vionnet models in the early 1920s, a few years before Vionnet started selling "to the trade."

The Custom Salon was generally considered to be the heart of the Hattie Carnegie operation, since it was with made-to-order fashion that Carnegie began. The focus of her business was to interpret European style for American consumers, but the sense of dress she chose to champion was not contained in the minutiae of design. It was instead an approach to fashion that emphasized consummate polish in every outfit. Norman Norell, who was with Carnegie from 1928 to 1940 (primarily as a ready-to-wear designer), remarked in American Fashion (New York, 1975) that he often worked from models that Miss Carnegie had brought back from Paris. He could legitimately claim, however, that he had imprinted his own signature on his designs for the firm, and it is often possible to make an informed attribution of Hattie Carnegie styles to her other designers. Certainly one gown featured in a 1939 magazine layout is recognizably the work of Claire McCardell, who spent two years with the firm.

Carnegie was already established as a taste-maker by the time she added the ready-to-wear division to her company in the 1920s. "Vogue points from Hattie Carnegie" contained her style tips and forecasts for Vogue readers. At the Hattie Carnegie salon, a customer could accessorize her day and evening ensembles with furs, hats, handbags, gloves, lingerie, jewelry, and even cosmetics and perfume— everything, in fact—but shoes.

The Carnegie customer, whatever her age, seems to have been neither girlish nor matronly, but possessed of a certain decorousness. Even the casual clothing in the Spectator Sportswear and Jeunes Filles ready-to-wear departments was elegant rather than playful. The Carnegie Suit, usually an ensemble with dressmaker details in luxury fabrics, traditionally opened her seasonal showings. She often stressed the importance of black as a wardrobe basic, both for day and evening, but was also famous for a shade known as "Carnegie blue." Perhaps Carnegie's preference for 18th-century furnishings in her home relates to the devotion of formality so clearly expressed in her business.

During World War II Carnegie was an impressive bearer of the standard of the haute couture. French style leadership was unavailable, and designs from her custom salon took pride of place in fashion magazines and on the stage, as in the original production of State of the Union by Lindsay and Crouse. Carnegie's leadership was also important to other fashion industries. She had always used fabrics from the best American textile companies, and continued to patronize specialty firms such as Hafner Associates and Onondaga Silks, which were not immersed in war work. She also used fabrics designed and hand-printed by Brook Cadwallader, and continued to do so after French materials again became available. Only after Carnegie's death did the company claim to use exclusively imported fabrics.

Hattie Carnegie died in 1956; the fashion empire she had built survived into the 1970s, but in 1965 the custom salon was closed and the company concentrated on wholesale businesses.

• Epstein, Beryl Williams, Fashion is Our Business, Philadelphia and New York, 1945.
• New York and Hollywood Fashion: Costume Designs from the Brooklyn Museum Collection, New York, 1986.
• Milbank, Caroline Rennolds, New York Fashion: The Evolution of American Style, New York, 1989.
• Steele, Valerie, Women of Fashion: Twentieth Century Design, NewYork, 1991.
• Stegemeyer, Anne, Who's Who in Fashion, Third Edition, New York,1996.

Jewelry Designer History

I just found a new site with costume jewelry designer history.

http://www.amazingadornments.com/Designer%20Bios%20Page.htm

Bakelite & Catalin

The History of Bakelite & Catalin and How to Test for Authenticity

from vintagejewelrylane.com.

Bakelite Jewelry has become a hot collecting area in the last several decades. How do you know if the piece that you recently purchased is the genuine item or a fake reproduction or "fakelite," also currently being offered in large numbers online and at flea markets? I'll do my best to take some of the mystery out of this popular subject, since knowing how to test for bakelite will help you to also date your jewelry.
Before I comment on the testing for bakelite content, I'd like to give you a short history of the early depression material, which details the differences between the two materials commonly referred to as bakelite.

History of Bakelite

The words "bakelite" and "catalin" are often used interchangeably. However, they are actually two different materials. Both are thermoset plastics made from formaldehyde. The differences between the two are in the fillers used, origin of manufacture, the opaqueness, and the colors available. Most bakelite jewelry that you see for sale is actually catalin. 

Bakelite

This thermoset plastic made from phenol formaldehyde has fillers to make it more durable, stronger and less expensive. The filler could be rags, cotton, wood, carbon black - even asbestos. Because of this, reworking the product can make it harmful to your health. By and large, bakelite is very opaque. True bakelite colors are normally very dark because of the fillers.

Bakelite is a US manufactured product, patented in 1907 by a Belgian chemist, Dr. Leo Hendrik Baekeland, working in New York. Most early uses of Bakelite were radios, handles for pots and pans, castings for televisions, toys, etc. Some was even used in coffins! Bakelite was manufactured between 1907 and 1927.

Catalin

Catalin is a thermoset plastic made from either phenol, melamine or urea formaldehyde, that normally has no fillers. It can be reworked and is usually very colorful. Catalin is also very translucent. Sunlight causes catalin to lighten over time. Catalin is also subject to shrinkage.

When the patent for bakelite expired in 1927, the patent was acquired by the Catalin Corporation in the same year. The Catalin Corporation is thought to be responsible for nearly 70% of the phenol resins available today - thus the statement that most bakelite jewelry sold is actually catalin. Catalin jewelry production continued through the 1930s and 40s in abundance. With the introduction of lucite in the 1950s, the production of vintage catalin jewelry effectively ceased in the 1960s, although it is still possible to get reworked pieces which were manufactured much later than this date.

Testing of bakelite and catalin

One of the easiest ways to test for the difference between the two materials is to hold them up to a very strong light. Light will not pass through bakelite since it is opaque, but will filter through the more translucent catalin. Even black catalin allows some light to pass through it. 

Further testing for actual bakelite or catalin content

There are many different tests used to test for bakelite/catalin - including the hot water test, the friction test, the scrubbing bubbles test (not recommended, since Scrubbing Bubbles is caustic and will strip the finish of the jewelry), the 409 test, and the Simichrome polish test. None are conclusive on their own. Once you have some experience with the product, you will get a very good feel for it by just sight. Bakelite and catalin have a very distinctive look to them. 

French Bakelite - Far East Bakelite - Fakelite

This is not considered true bakelite by vintage jewelry collectors. I have seen a great deal of French bakelite for sale on auction sites such as ebay. The pieces are lovely, with highly carved designs and vibrant colors. They sometimes fetch high prices.

However, this type of jewelry is neither bakelite or vintage. It is mass produced, newly manufactured plastic fashion jewelry with little or no collector value. The same is true of the mass produced items labeled as bakelite from the far east. If there is a lot of it for sale, you can be sure that it isn't true bakelite, which is very hard to come by. I buy estate jewelry collections all the time, and rarely find genuine bakelite pieces in the estates. Also, French bakelite will not pass the bakelite tests outlined on this page.
As bakelite prices have risen, this "Fakelite" has appeared on the market. Although some of the sellers of Fakelite insist that it will pass chemical testing, none of it successfully passes hot water testing. Fakelite smells "wrong" (unlike bakelite) when tested with hot water.

409 Testing

This is the easiest test for the beginner. Lightly dampen a Q tip swab in 409 cleaning solution and rub it gently on an inconspicuous area of the jewelry piece. If the material is bakelite it will turn the Q tip bright yellow. (not brown - brown is just dirt.) The 409 should be thoroughly rinsed off, since it could damage the finish of the piece. This test is a good indication that the jewelry tested is bakelite, but not absolutely conclusive. It should be combined with the hot water and smell test described below. 

Scrubbing Bubbles Testing

Dow bathroom cleaner - popularly known as scrubbing bubbles used to be widely used for testing of bakelite jewelry. Vintage Jewelry Lane does not recommend that you use this method, since the product is very caustic and has been known to strip the finish from the jewelry piece. 

Simichrome Polish Test

This is similar to the 409 test, except that you use a polish called Simichrome Polish, which is available online or at most hardware stores. This test is a little more expensive, since Simichrome is more expensive than 409. Put the polish on a soft cloth and wipe over the jewelry to be tested. Once again, it should result in a bright yellow area on the cloth. Simichrome doesn't have to be rinsed off, and it can be used to polish the whole piece of jewelry. Not a conclusive test, especially on reworked catalin, but fairly conclusive in combination with the hot water test. 

Hot water test

This test is very accurate, but requires some experience, since one needs to know what formaldehyde actually smells like. Run the water in your tap (or heat it in the microwave oven) until it is very hot and hold the jewelry piece in it for 15-30 seconds. Immediately smell the article. If it is bakelite or catalin it will have the distinctive smell of formaldehyde. A burnt milk smell indicates French Bakelite, and a camphor smell indicates Celluloid - another early vintage plastic.

A lot of the reworked catalin pieces will not respond to the Simichrome polish or 409 tests, but should respond to the hot water test. It is still possible to get a false positive to this test, if the piece is newly polished, carved or highly dirty. Also, be very careful of the water on the findings, since the water can loosen glue. Always dry thoroughly.

Friction test

This is similar to the hot water test, but is helpful when there is no hot water available, such as time when you are at a flea market or other sales venue. You simply rub the jewelry piece until your thumb feels very hot and then smell it. It will give off the distinctive formaldehyde smell. 

Hot Pin Test:

I strongly discourage this method of testing, since it requires that you actually damage the piece of jewelry which will devalue it greatly. It requires heating a pin tip until it is red and then touching it to the bakelite/catalin object. The characteristics of true bakelite or catalin insure that the piece will not melt, so a pin cannot pierce it. The heat of the pin will, however, cause a dark spot to remain on the jewelry piece, which cannot be removed. 

Other Indicators of True Bakelite or Catalin

Bakelite/Catalin jewelry will never have seams or mold lines. White jewelry is a good giveaway that it is not bakelite or catalin, since both have a yellowish patina which develops over time. A chalky finish which looks like dust and will not wash away is never found on the true product. (This is a good indicator of a newer material referred to as "fakelite.") Finally, true bakelite pieces will have a distinctive clunking sound when tapped together.

As indicated above, no one test is totally conclusive for guaranteeing that your jewelry piece is true bakelite or catalin. When used in combination with all of the other tests, a positive test on each can help you to feel fairly certain that you really do have a collectible piece of vintage bakelite or catalin jewelry.

Final notes on testing methods

Not all jewelry pieces which actually are Bakelite will pass these tests. This includes pieces which are very dirty, pieces which have previously had their finish stripped with chemical test agents such as Scrubbing Bubbles, some reds, many blacks, and jewelry pieces which have a coating which is resin washed. Pieces which have been covered with a plastic sealant compound, and jewelry pieces which have been sanded will not pass the test. And finally, newly re-worked pieces made from Bakelite and freshly polished pieces may not pass these tests but may still be bakelite.

In addition, some pieces which are NOT bakelite may pass some of these tests. For this reason, it is very important to test with several methods, including hot water and 409, and to also look for other evidences of bakelite content, such as oxidation and patina.

Aurora Borealis

Learning New Words

I'm just starting to learn the correct jewelry terms. Still unsure about crystal and stones!

Lead glass is so-called because the glass contains lead - as much a 50% of the weight of the glass is due to lead.

The presence of the lead increases the index of refraction - a high refractive index, means it bends the light more. By cutting the glass in just the right way, internal reflection from inside the shiny surfaces of the glass cause the light to reflect internally. This internal reflection results in sparkle as the glass is tilted, adding to its beauty.

This stone was created by Swarovski® in 1955 in collaboration with Christian Dior. It shimmers in every imaginable color. The effect is achieved by vapor blasting the facets of the lower part of the crystals with an invisible, micro thin metal sheet. 

 Also known as AB, the term now refers to any highly iridescent surface.

The term is most commonly used in reference to crystals, rhinestone, or synthetic stones that are iridescent.

I just listed these heavy earrings which I'm calling  Aurora Borealis for now...

http://www.etsy.com/listing/82821489/aurora-borealis-earrings-vintage

Coro history

Coro, a partnership between Emanuel Cohn (the "Co") and Gerald Rosenberg (the "ro"), began producing jewelry in New York in 1901 and continued through the 1970s under the marks Coro, Coro Craft (later Corocraft), and Vendome, among others. Although Vendome was the company's high-end line, some of the most sought-after pieces today are the Coro pieces, especially the Duettes, the company produced in the 1930s and 1940s.

The reason for much of Coro’s early success was Adolph Katz, who became the company’s design director in 1924, and Gene Verri, who designed for Coro from 1933 until 1963. Katz created Coro’s en tremblant floral pins, which featured tiny metal springs that allowed elements of the pin to vibrate or tremble when its wearer moved.
Among the most collectible vintage Coro pieces today are the Coro Duettes from 1931 to the 1950s. The Duettes utilized a frame based on one designed by Cartier in 1927. Like the Cartier frame, the Coro version had two openings in it, one for each pin. Pins could be attached to the frame to be worn as a set, or detached from the frame to be worn individually.
The first Duette designs were Art Deco and monochromatic in style, but subsequent pins include pairs of enameled owls with aquamarine eyes and pavé-set rhinestone bodies, crowned cherubs, horse heads, and an Indian brave and squaw. Though their popularity ebbed in the 1950s, today a vintage Coro Duette, particularly one that trembles like the Quivering Camellia, is highly prized by contemporary collectors.
Corocraft was the next step up in quality, price, and prestige from Coro. Under the Corocraft brand, Coro introduced a line of Jelly Belly pins that were similar to those made by Trifari, right down to the Lucite "belly." Whereas most vintage Coro pieces were built on metal frames, vintage Corocraft pins and bracelets were often made of sterling silver or plated in gold. As for the rhinestones, Coro Craft ads from the late 1940s refer to these as "Diadem Jewels" to give its line of cut glass the allusion of royal lineage and status.
Vendome, which was introduced in 1944 and replaced Corocraft in 1953, was the top of the Coro line. This was serious, simulated bling, featuring rhinestone-studded chokers, cabochon-festooned silver-plated bangles, and, by the 1960s, a set of six gold-plated pins designed by Vendome’s Helen Marion, who was inspired by the work of the great Cubist artist Georges Braque.
Like Coro, which had embraced Lucite for both its Jelly Bellies and individual pins, Vendome also used Lucite. But instead of treating the material as just a clear or translucent replacement for a glass bead, Vendome designers shaved and formed Lucite into organics shapes in unexpected colors. For example, one floral pin with matching earrings features delicate blue-and-white Lucite petals atop verdant-green Lucite leaves.
Key terms for Vintage Coro Costume Jewelry:
Cabochon: A stone that has been shaped and polished instead of faceted. It usually has a flat back and a shape that is round or oval.
Diamante: Another word for rhinestone.
En tremblant: A trembling effect on a piece of jewelry achieved by mounting coiled metal springs to the piece’s fitting. Brooches and other piece that have this effect are usually called tremblers.
Pavé: A setting in which numerous small stones are set so tightly together that they create a uniform surface.