This past January, I visited the Miami Beach Antiques Show. While walking the booths, I discovered that couture costume jewelry is a hot area of collecting right now. Costume jewelry really reached new artistic heights in the late 1920s and ʻ30s, when influential couturiers like Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli challenged conventions and mixed the fake with the real. Often this meant using imitation pearls and glass stones. At the show these pieces were the most sought after, with higher price tags like the Chanel necklace shown here for $3,500. My two favorite pieces in the show were designed by fashion designers, both made in the 1970’s, with a great over the top pop art look¾a long chain-link necklace by Paco Rabanne and a two-button necklace by Patrick Kelly.

Only a few years ago, Bakelite sold really well. But now, with the exception of the iconic pieces, it has become less desirable. This is a great time to collect because prices still have not peaked. Even the iconic pieces rarely go for over $5,000.

Photos by Al Eiber