Bakelite jewellery - is it vintage or repro? : eBay Guides

A number of manufacturers in the Mystic East are producing jewellery items in "Bakelite". I’ve got some cracking reproduction “Philly Style” items in my jewellery cabinet. But I bought them knowing them to be reproductions, mere ersatz trinkets to tide me over until the day when I find that genuine $5000 bracelet at a church jumble sale on the £1 or less table.... you might not be as savvy and buy a piece in good faith as an original that later turns out to be newly made.

OK, you could and should get a refund from the seller, but the hassle involved might be considerable. Better to buy wise in the first place.

Making phenol formaldehyde plastic isn’t rocket science, so there are a lot of newly made pieces available to buy on-line or in costume jewellery shops.

[In fact rocket science isn't really rocket science - once you've grasped the concept, "To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction", you've cracked it. Brain surgery though, that's different. Don't get me started on brain surgery...]

 

The regrettably small picture shows two "Bakelite" cherry brooches as seen from the back. Similar brooches, necklaces and earrings can be found based on strawberries, bananas, pineapples and the like, or as Carmen Miranda stylee fruit cocktails...

The original 1930's item is on the left. Note the small, lightweight green plastic leaves with veins visible on both sides. Also the dark, heavy quality to the cherries themselves, with deeply carved grooves in the body of the berry. Then notice the fastening, a metal strip screwed to the back of the bar.

Now look at the repro item on the right.

The cherries are smaller, brighter in colour, less deeply carved and feel lighter than you'd expect. Bakelite is a heavy material ( think of a snooker or billiard ball ). The leaves are chunkier, less delicate, a lighter shade of green and smooth on one side; nowhere near as detailed as the originals. Then note the fastening. Brand new and shiny, glued rather than screwed.

On the original the cherries would have hung from waxed threads; white cotton inserts wrapped in green cotton that were glued into the body of the berry. The repro items tend to have cherries that are drilled all the way through and  held in place by knotted leatherette.

Even in the Ritziest shops in the West End of London these reproduction brooches sell for around £50 ( wholesale you might get them @ half that ). The originals start well over £100 ( and that's for one in less than perfect and "a bit too much damage to pass off as patina" condition )

Here's another item from my collection ( another repro, just to show I have nothing against them if they're honestly described and fairly priced ) that provides most of your five portions a day..



Again, the picture's rather small but it illustrates the same points.

It's vital to read the seller's description carefully and to study the pictures carefully before bidding. If the description merely says that the seller "believes" the item to be Bakelite ( or Bakerlight or Bakerlite or Bayko-lite or any of the dozens of mis-spellings that abound ) or that he "was told" that it belonged to a Great Aunt who wore it in the air raid shelter while she darned socks and joined in jolly sing-alongs then it's a case of 'caveat emptor' - and I'd advise you to be very wary.

More of my ramblings about Bakelite and vintage plastics in general ( as opposed to jewellery ) can be found here..

Bakelite and other vintage plastic collectables

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