What Is Costume Jewelry?
Q: I want to buy something for my mom and I've saved up about $125. Anyways, I
was browsing on the web trying to find her sometin and found something that
she "might" like. It says its a opal tennis bracelet, but its under a
category of "Costume Jewelry" So, what is costume jewelry? Does that mean
its fake and used in costumes? Sure is expensive if that is what it means.
A:Costume jewelry usually describes jewelry that looks like more
expensive jewelry, but is made from less expensive materials that may
or may not be "fake." For example, a "fine jewelry" opal tennis
bracelet would probably be solid 14K gold with genuine opals, whereas a
similar "costume jewelry" bracelet would probably be gold plated or
gold filled, with either glass opals or lesser quality genuine opals.
There's also the category, "fashion jewelry." Fashion jewelry is
typically made from genuine but less rare & expensive materials, such
as sterling silver, semi-precious stones, and freshwater pearls.
There might be a better definition out there, but my definition of costume
jewelry is simply jewelry that is made of non-precious metals and/or
non-precious gems. Some also consider it to be any jewelry that is not
*entirely* made of precious or semi-precious materials. In other words, a
brooch may have a semi-precious stone, but the stone is set in a polished
brass setting instead of gold or silver. This piece would be considered
"costume".
Just because a piece is considered to be costume jewelry doesn't