Retro & Vintage Jewellery: A Collector's Guide (1940–1980)

"Vintage" covers the jewellery of roughly 1940 to 1980 — from wartime ingenuity to disco-era glamour. It is the most wearable and most affordable corner of the old-jewellery world, full of bold gold, big colour and pieces built for everyday life. If antique jewellery is a gallery, vintage is a wardrobe.

Retro: the 1940s

War shaped everything. Platinum was requisitioned, so jewellers turned to gold — often rose gold, stretched thin and polished into large, sculptural, hollow forms: tank bracelets, bold scrolls, buckle rings, oversized cocktail rings set with citrine or aquamarine. The look is Hollywood: big, warm and confident. Synthetic rubies and sapphires appear frequently and honestly — they were a proud material of the time, not a deception.

The 1950s

Post-war prosperity brought diamonds back: baguette-and-brilliant combinations, elegant spray and floral brooches, and the classic diamond cluster ring. Texture arrives in gold — twisted rope, plaited wire, brushed finishes. Cocktail culture kept rings large and earrings on show.

The 1960s and 70s

Design loosens up: abstract and brutalist gold, bark and nugget textures, turquoise, coral, lapis and tiger's eye, and a wave of individuality from independent goldsmiths. British hallmarks make this era wonderfully easy to date precisely — a 1969 London-hallmarked ring tells you its birthday itself. Bold gemstone dress rings from these decades are among the best value in the market today.

Why buy vintage

• Wearability: made for modern life — sturdier settings and sizes than Georgian or Edwardian work.
• Value: craftsmanship and gold weight that would cost multiples to commission today.
• Traceability: full British hallmarks on most pieces — metal, city, year, maker.
• Personality: no two decades look alike; there is a vintage style for everyone.

Buying well

Check hollow 1940s pieces for dents and creases (hard to repair invisibly), make sure textured gold hasn't worn smooth on high points, and treat foil-less honest wear as the character it is. Everything else in our buying guide applies. See the vintage pieces currently in the collection — they tend to be the ones you can wear home the same week.