Estate & Vintage Jewelry - Definitions

Estate Jewelry

Estate when used in conjunction with jewelry or objects can be a broad term. It traditionally has meant anything of value coming from an estate, family or person that has been owned and is now sold again. This could mean that someone purchased a ring last year, decided to sell it, and the term "estate" might be applied to it. It could also refer to an elderly woman who opts to sell her great-grandmother's jewelry, and thus this jewelry might be of an age to be considered antique. Consequently, the term estate thus can have very little bearing on age or value.

Vintage Jewelry

Vintage is a term applied to objects or jewelry of some age. Usually people think of vintage in relation to items with an age of at least 25 years old, but again this is not consistent - it can vary from person to person or dealer to dealer. Vintage jewelry is frequently applied to costume jewelry from, say the 1950s, 1960s or 1970s. However, the term antique jewelry most often refers to items over 100 years old, therefore, anything newer may be termed vintage or estate.