Could your plastic jewelry possibly be actual Bakelite?

Though I love accessorizing with jewelry it’s not something I tend to collect, however each day jewelry is becoming a more popular item to collect, and though many people first think of diamond jewelry, believe it or not there happens to be a plastic jewelry called “Bakelite” that is a very desirable item today. Bakelite jewelry was most popular between 1909 and the 1940s during the Art Deco period. These pieces were originally created as costume jewelry for an economical way to dress up clothing outfits.  

Bakelite was invented in the early 1900s by Dr. Leo Bakeland. After realizing that the plastic material would cool quickly and wouldn’t melt even under higher temperatures, Bakeland took out a patent on the idea in 1907. The material that was heated to a melting point and then poured into molds which was used to create numerous things even including toys and parts for electronics. Strangely Bakeland let the patent expire and Catalin Corporation purchased it and began creating their jewelry marked Bakelite-Catalin. There were a variety of popular jewelry designs made and the product was sold in both expensive stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and smaller stores such as Woolworth’s. 

Though Bakelite was an inexpensive popular product, many companies stopped using it in the early 40s as the need for World War II products were a necessity. When the war ended new plastic technologies had developed leaving Bakelite behind in the past. Today it’s important to know how to tell if a piece is real Bakelite, or another type of faux plastic. Remember in the beginning we discussed how real Bakelite cannot melt, well one of the best ways to test is to take a red hot pin and touch it to the back of a piece, if it remains unharmed you have the real deal, if it melts or burns the piece then you know it’s a fake! So the next time you go vintage jewelry shopping and run across a piece of Bakelite remember its unique and interesting history! 

Here’s a little fun story: About a year ago a purchased a small box of jewelry, because it was all jumbled up together and undesirable looking it sold for around $5.00. A few weeks later when I was going through the box I discovered some simple plastic pieces of jewelry. My mother and I tested the pieces and were surprised to find out they were actual Bakelite!! It was a neat and unexpected discovery!

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