Antique Jewelry May Be Disappearing

The rise in gold prices, now north of $1600 an ounce and predicted to reach $1900 this fall means that you are seeing less gold in jewelry. Silver has replaced gold as the choice of most consumers and jewelers, especially art jewelers, are turning to new materials to use for ornament.

But the rise in the price of gold has other consequences that have been overlooked or underreported.

News reports from Australia suggest an "unprecedented" increase in scrap gold being sold to refiners. In fact, one of the fastest growing new companies in that nation is Gold Buyers which has grown to 14 stores since it opened its first Australian store in 2009. It’s business: buying scrap gold and reselling it to refiners.

The problem, according to antique dealers and jewelry historians there, is that included in that unprecedented amount of scrap gold are vintage and antique pieces of jewelry as people attempt to capture the value of the metal over the more nebulous value of its cultural significance.

Please don’t misunderstand me. No one can blame people for selling assets, particularly in this painful economy. But, according to jewelry historians, Australia is losing a treasure trove of vintage jewelry, especially jewelry from the 1940s according to at least one observer. And, although I haven’t seen any U.S. reports on the subject, I suspect the same thing is occurring here.

The co-owner of Hayes Auctioneers Gilli Hayes said vintage jewelry and family heirlooms were being refined because owners could often get more money and sooner than selling it to a dealer or collector and basing its value its historical or cultural significance rather than metal weight.

"It's a tragedy, beautiful antique things are being scrapped just for the gold and silver weight," co-owner of Hayes Auctioneers Gilli Hayes said.

"Sometimes owners just can’t wait for it to bring the price that it should bring, they're simply satisfied to get just the gold weight," she said.

For those of us who love jewelry and believe it represents the cultural and historical mores of the time it was created, this development is disquieting.

The 1940s, for example, were historically interesting and difficult times for jewelers. Jewelry production in Europe especially came to an abrupt halt with the outbreak of WWII. Platinum, which had gained tremendous popularity, was banned in Europe for use in jewelry because it was needed for armaments.

Gold replaced platinum and was set sparingly with gemstones reflecting wartime austerity. In both Europe and the United States, necklaces were short and simple reflecting the simple, boxy clothes women were wearing.

But even wartime doesn’t prevent creative breakthroughs and the early 1940s saw the incorporation of flexible tubular bands into jewelry. These bands were of two types, the snake chain and gas pipe linking, so-called because of its resemblance to a gas hose.
Some of these necklaces were long and could double as a belt or bracelet, an example of the creative use of sparse materials during the 40s.

There is no solution, of course, to the issue of people selling antique and vintage jewelry to refiners. We’ve all just got to swallow hard and hope that the economy improves to the point that people are able to treasure their heirlooms as heirlooms and not as a critical source of cash in a depression.

Fleury Sommers is a goldsmith, pearl and bead stringer and has studied gemology for more than 25 years. She operated a gallery in Houston, Texas for more than ten years and is the creator of the comprehensive Professional Pearl and Bead Stringing course available on her website.