We love early-to-mid-century Lucite jewelry. A fabulous find as these earrings are in excellent condition, plus they are smaller in size than most mid-century vintage earrings.
They are petite Lucite earrings flecked with gold leaf. Nice pear shape. The material and style (including their screwbacks) date these as mid-to-late 1930's, possibly early 1940's. Lucite jewelry with embedded gold leaf or materials such as sea shells or glitter is a favorite of ours.
SIZE: 1"x 7/16" (at widest point). Depth is 1/4". PRICE: $30.00 USD
CONDITION: Excellent. No chips or cracks. No scuffs noted with naked eye. One tiny scuff on one earring front was seen under a magnified 10x jewelry loupe.
To view the Information & Purchase Page (I&P Page) on these earrings in our vintage store 20th Century Finds, click here. There you can review eight click-to-enlarge photographs of these pretty earrings.
Some researched information about the material Lucite. We are very careful in what information we provide to our readers and customers. There is so much disinformation about vintage items and materials. We do not need to add to the problem. Long story, but the owner of 20th Century Finds has defended several lawsuits involving plastics in product liability cases in California - don't worry, it has never involved jewelry - so the following has been researched and confirmed.
Acrylic was introduced into the market in the early 1930's. DuPont created their own acrylic glass in the mid 1930's and trademarked it Lucite. Acrylic is the generic name, whereas Lucite is one of the trademarked brands of acrylic. Plexiglas is another trademarked name for acrylic glass. For some reason many jewelry collectors use the term Lucite to mean acrylic, so we do as well.
Acrylic glass is the synthetic thermoplastic resin called polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) that is known for its transparency property, and can come in clear or a variety of colors. Here is an example of it in blue.
Pretty, isn't it? This is a preview of a Lucite bangle we will be adding to our 20th Century Finds store this month.
Unlike Bakelite, which is a thermoset plastic, acrylic, which is a thermoplastic, can be molded by applications such as compression. Scratches can be polished out of acrylic glass. We do not recommend that anyone attempt this with their vintage jewelry. An expert should perform such work. We never attempt this on the acrylic items we sell.
Good news for vintage collectors. Acrylic glass does not fade or yellow. It does not have any odor. It is very durable. It does not shatter. But it can crack, so that is a serious consideration when purchasing Lucite jewelry.
Acrylic glass can be carved or laser cut in a manner that allows for such beautiful jewelry pieces as reverse-carved Lucite jewelry. We will be adding reverse-carved Lucite jewelry items to our store for the holiday season.
It can also be embedded with items such as gold leaf, shells, glitter and other items, as these pretty earrings, above, show.
The last picture is another sneak preview of a gorgeous sloped-cut Lucite bangle bracelet we will be adding to our store. The clear Lucite is embedded with an iridescent cream-colored thermoplastic. Stunning in person.
All photographs shown in this article and on this blog are copyrighted by J.Jardine dba 20th Century Finds. All rights reserved. 2009. We prosecute violators.
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