1. The vast majority of vintage, and especially antique (pre-1930) costume jewelry is unsigned. You will miss way too many highly collectible items. Many unsigned pieces are just as beautiful, well-made and durable as signed jewelry, and they are far less expensive. It's good to learn inexpensively when you start collecting.
2. Many wonderful designer jewelry firms failed to sign their jewelry during different periods or different circumstances. For instance, much early Miriam Haskell jewelry is unsigned.In fact, many designers never signed their earliest pieces.
Eisenberg failed to sign some of their jewelry between 1950 and 1975. You can ID some of the jewels they made through this period through vintage ads. Be sure to go to antique fairs to look at and hold real Eisenberg jewelry. Then you will understand how it is made and what the backs look like (many online dealers show images of backs) so you don't end up with a cheap knockoff, or worse yet, fake Eisenberg.
Weiss left many of their jewels unsigned. These were wholesaled to department stores like Sears and J.C. Penny's, who would put the jewelry in their own gift boxes. One of the most fun jewelry collecting categories would be unsigned Weiss. Buy jewelry books and look at photos of signed Weiss jewels. Then try to find them in the field unsigned. Most dealers don't mark up Weiss jewelry if it is unsigned, and you can find it all over flea markets, thrift stores & auctions. With so much fake Weiss on the market, its more fun to find an unsigned Weiss than to turn over the back of the jewelry you ordered online and find it's fake!
2. Many wonderful designer jewelry firms failed to sign their jewelry during different periods or different circumstances. For instance, much early Miriam Haskell jewelry is unsigned.In fact, many designers never signed their earliest pieces.
Eisenberg failed to sign some of their jewelry between 1950 and 1975. You can ID some of the jewels they made through this period through vintage ads. Be sure to go to antique fairs to look at and hold real Eisenberg jewelry. Then you will understand how it is made and what the backs look like (many online dealers show images of backs) so you don't end up with a cheap knockoff, or worse yet, fake Eisenberg.
Weiss left many of their jewels unsigned. These were wholesaled to department stores like Sears and J.C. Penny's, who would put the jewelry in their own gift boxes. One of the most fun jewelry collecting categories would be unsigned Weiss. Buy jewelry books and look at photos of signed Weiss jewels. Then try to find them in the field unsigned. Most dealers don't mark up Weiss jewelry if it is unsigned, and you can find it all over flea markets, thrift stores & auctions. With so much fake Weiss on the market, its more fun to find an unsigned Weiss than to turn over the back of the jewelry you ordered online and find it's fake!
Anyhow, these are my main reasons for collecting unsigned vintage & antique costume jewelry.
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