Vintage Cameos and Cabochons

           What exactly does it mean when we refer to an item as vintage? Vintage items are items that we do not buy new directly from the manufacturer. These items can come from any number of sources and are of unknown age. They may have been originally produced as far back as the 1940's on the other hand we may buy the left over components from a jewelry manufacturer that is currently selling off excess inventory. These items might be practically new. I know that there are a number of designers and jewelers out there that like to buy only "vintage" using that as an added selling point. While it is true that often you can find  very nice and interesting designs in this group of items I want my customers to understand that vintage stock is often limited. In addition the quality MAY not be as good as new items. Things like yellowing or color fade on plastic items can sometimes be an issue. Glass items may have light scratching or tiny chips on edge etc. These issues simply come with "not new product"  that said, we do our very best to cull and sort these items to insure their salability. the last thing to keep in mind is that I generally do not offer quantity price breaks on these items. I actually have to pay more for old items and as I said there is labor in sorting and a percentage that I lose in this process. I recommend that designers looking to incorporate a vintage piece into there line give us a call and discuss the outlook for its continued availability and whether high volume pricing is even available.