Vintage as an Advantage

Some people have asked me if there's any perceived advantage to wearing vintage jewelry over newer styles. So here's my personal take on the advantage of vintage.

1. Vintage jewelry has already been created. If you're like I am and you're trying to reduce, reuse and recycle, then wearing something that already exists helps to embody that mantra. Vintage jewelry adds very little to your carbon footprint and in my world, that's a good thing. Most new jewelry is made of plastic or man-made materials and they take energy and chemicals to create. Vintage jewelry may have taken energy to make or it could be made of plastic, but that footprint was created long ago.

2. Vintage jewelry is always "back" in style. Someone once said there are no more new ideas and I think that holds true for most things. If you look at today's fashions, there are almost always links to the past and vintage jewelry can always be partnered, as long as it's done with some style.

3. Vintage jewelry is made better. I was once married to a home builder and we often talked about how homes these days weren't as solid as ten, twenty or fifty years ago. The same goes for jewelry. There's something to be said for craftsmanship and you'll find that the jewelry made previous to 1970 (yes, technically the 1980's are "vintage" these days, but I think quality started to go downhill before then), is made much better than what's created today.

4. Go USA! Much of the costume jewelry we purchase today is made in China, India and Taiwan. And while it's nice that we send them some work, wouldn't it be better to keep those jobs here in the US? Buying vintage jewelry from local vendors or vintage jewelry re-worked by artisans here in the US does help our economy and helps to keep jobs here in our country!

So those are my thoughts on just some of the advantages of vintage jewelry. Feel free to go check out some of our vintage pieces at ElevenEleven Designs!