Fashion Costume Jewellery

If I was to ask a person on the street what fashion jewellery is made from – I think the first reply would include gold and silver. This fascination with the traditional jewellery metals is understandable. Through the years society has considered gold and silver to be sought after and expensive jewellery components. With the huge increase in the costs of gold and jewellery production and the subsequent increase in the price, gold and silver are becoming less viable for average people. A 24K gold ring, for example is almost out of the question as a “nice to have”; it has become a special occasion purchase – such as engagements, marriages and eternity rings. Gold is often also considered to be “inert” metals and are less likely to react with the wearer’s skin. Silver runs a close second behind in the reaction stakes but because of its lesser cost is becoming more popular than gold.

Fashion costume jewellery is typically jewellery that is in vogue at a particular season and that will enhance your outfit and of course your self esteem and mood. With the growing costs, gold and silver are becoming less viable for the High Street Designer to work with. Cost of course is not the only variable at play here – an item may be highly priced, made from lesser cost materials, but have a designer label which may make it more attractive to a buyer. The design too plays a huge role in the attractiveness of a jewellery item – design of course cannot be costed.

So, where then is the market leading the jewellery designer? As far as metals are concerned, many of the base metals, in particular copper is often fabricated into the jewellery and then coated with rhodium to give it the silver look AND to ward off the evil tarnish or gold plated for the same reasons. Obviously plating can wear through after prolonged wear, but the cost saving in downsizing to a base metal even with the plate can make a piece more transitory and hence more affordable for the fashion market. Rolled or filled gold is also more popular, this is gold where the thickness of the gold is usually not more than 10% of the diameter is gold. This looks and acts like gold and will eventually wear away in constant use (like in 30 years!).

Many of today’s designers are now working in acrylic – witness the cat walks in 2010 where the big names of fashion have brought out mass market acrylic bangles. Although designer, these items certainly do not qualify as fine jewellery, but their price tags of $400+ put them out of the range of the high street fashionista. Naturally other jewellery manufacturers follow suit with the replica and look-alike jewellery groupies all jumping on the band wagon.

Glass too has had a huge following over the last five to ten years. Dichroic glass in particular has been feted and explored by jewellery designers all over the world. Who would have believed that this space race invented material could be quite so decorative?

It is becoming commonplace for a wide variety of components to be used in the making of jewellery. Gemstones still have their lure, the mystic properties draw some to them, diamonds hold the glitter and glamour of a life unlived, but with rising costs and growing scarcities, who can be surprised when simulated gems and cubic zirconia are becoming more popular? The design is probably the single most important aspect of the jewellery – cost and manufacturing materials can possibly be not an objection and lets face it – it is not so much about the cost of the components, but how it makes you feel that truly counts.

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