Vintage Costume Jewelry Value: Makers, Marks and Prices

Most vintage costume jewelry is worth $10 to $100 a piece, and the exceptions are signed designer pieces, above all Chanel, Miriam Haskell and Kenneth Jay Lane, which dealers list for hundreds to several thousand dollars. The Adirondack Girl @ Heart price guide (first published 2017, updated 26 July 2026) shows the everyday end: its sold 1940s to 1980s bracelets, brooches, necklaces and earrings mostly fall between $10 and $100. DSF Antique Jewelry, a New York dealer, shows the top end with Chanel pieces listed at $4,500 to $6,500.

The difference is rarely age. It is the name on the back, the quality of the stones and setting, and the condition.

From the Adirondack Girl @ Heart guide (updated 26 July 2026), items marked as sold:

• Kramer ornate rhinestone bracelet, 1950s: $75 to $100.
• Lucite cat pin with copper ears and bow, 1940s to 1950s: $100 to $150.
• Weiss clear rhinestone circle brooch, 1950s: $30 to $35.
• Regency prong-set rhinestone brooch, 1950s: $25 to $30.
• Bakelite bangles, 1940s: $15 to $35.
• Wedgwood jasperware necklace and earring set, 1970s: $65 to $75.
• Monet matte gold bracelet, 1970s to 1980s: $10 to $12.
• Enamel flower pins, 1960s: $10 to $15.

The same guide lists a Crown Trifari brooch of 1955 to 1969 at $10 to $12 and Sarah Coventry pieces at $12 to $28, which shows that a known signature alone does not make a piece expensive.

DSF Antique Jewelry listed these on 25 September 2026. They are retail asking prices for authenticated pieces in good condition, not what you would be offered for one.

• Chanel Fall 1995 Gripoix glass agate flower brooch: $6,500.
• Chanel Gripoix glass bead necklace: $5,500.
• Chanel Paris 1981 crystal sautoir: $4,500.
• Christian Lacroix couture baroque crystal earrings: $3,500.
• Kenneth Jay Lane Mughal-style glass earrings: $1,500.
• Miriam Haskell coral glass earrings: $1,250.
• Kenneth Jay Lane drop earrings: $550.

These names are worth checking for on any piece you own. Wikipedia notes that Kenneth Jay Lane has designed since the 1960s for clients including Jackie Onassis and Audrey Hepburn, and that Haskell's pieces command high prices from collectors.

• Find the signature. Look on the clasp, the back of a brooch and earring clips with a loupe. Names collectors look for include Chanel, Miriam Haskell, Eisenberg, Kramer, Weiss, Trifari, Giovanni and Sarah Coventry (Adirondack Girl @ Heart).
• Do not dismiss unsigned Haskell-style pieces. Wikipedia notes Haskell jewelry was seldom signed before 1950, when regular signatures began.
• Check how stones are set. Clear, well-cut stones that are securely set, without clouding, chips or loose settings, are a good sign (Menashe Jewelers).
• Feel the weight and check the plating. Quality pieces feel substantial, and wear on the plating is one of the things to inspect (Menashe Jewelers).
• Note the material. Bakelite, Lucite, enamel and celluloid each have their own collectors.
• Look for precious-metal marks. A piece marked 925 or sterling, or with a karat mark, is not costume jewelry and is valued differently; see silver markings on silverware.

Menashe Jewelers uses the common definitions: vintage is 20 to 100 years old and antique is over 100. By that measure anything made before about 2006 counts as vintage in 2026. Wikipedia's style periods help place a piece: Art Deco in the 1920s and 1930s, Retro from 1935 to 1950 when plastics such as Bakelite joined natural materials, and Art Modern from 1945 to 1960 with more understated, tailored designs.

Our suggested order, so the few valuable pieces are not sold in a bulk lot:

• Separate anything marked 925, sterling or with a karat mark; weigh and price those separately.
• Pull out every signed piece and look up the name.
• Set aside pieces with securely set, high-quality stones, Bakelite and Lucite.
• Do not clean aggressively before an assessment (Menashe Jewelers); photograph pieces as found.
• Sell designer pieces through a specialist dealer or auction, everyday signed pieces individually online, and unsigned pieces as mixed lots.

There is an active market: dealers such as DSF Antique Jewelry and guides such as Adirondack Girl @ Heart record regular sales. AntiqLens can read a signature or style from a photo and suggest a maker and decade.

Research and drafting for this page were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed below. Prices are copied from the named guide, dealer or auction report with the date we checked it; asking prices are labelled as asking prices, and where a figure could not be confirmed we say so rather than estimate. If you find an error, tell us and we will correct it.