Where To Buy Vintage Jewellery Online

I love vintage jewellery. There's so much history in a piece of jewellery when you think about it, and when I look at a potential piece of jewellery I want to buy I like thinking of what might have brought it to me. Was it a much-loved ring that was handed down through the generations until the new owner fell on hard times and sold it? Was it a wedding ring someone wore and cherished all their lives before passing away leaving no relatives to inherit it? Some people say wearing old jewellery is bad luck as if bad things happened to the wearer it can mean the bad luck is passed onto you, but that's only superstition and I personally don't pay any mind to it.

I'm pretty much addicted to Jewellery and love any kind new or old so I'm always buying it wherever I go. Markets, online and in stores. I also love to visit vintage expo's where they have a great collection of vintage jewellery. Because of the rarity of antique jewellery it can sometimes be very expensive to buy if it's designer jewellery or depending on it's age. So I've compiled a list of sites that have mostly cheaper vintage jewellery so that everyone can afford to have a piece of history in their jewellery collection.

The following list is in no particular order, but if you want to know where my number 1 place to buy antique jewellery is - Etsy, closely followed by Ebay. They are both gold mines for vintage anything.

Please note that I cannot guarantee that any pieces I feature in this article will be available at time of publishing or your reading about them as vintage jewellery is using one of a kind. These are pre-loved pieces of jewellery so you also cannot expect all jewellery shown to be in as new condition.

Dorothea's Closet Vintage Jewellery

Dorothea's is a fairly easy website to navigate with $12 shipping for US or $25 shipping for Overseas. They also have an Etsy shop and can offer layaway (laybuy) to those that contact via email before purchase.

Their range goes all the way back to pre 1920 to the 80's and I found quite a few nice pieces. To get to the jewellery section click on Jewellery on the side bar and then use the top right corner to navigate through the pages.

I like this diamond broach and floral necklace.

Glitterbug

Offers payment via paypal or credit card with free shipping for most items in the US. It's a easy site to navigate and a lot of affordable pieces like this silver bracelet with pink moonstones for $58 or this 1950's black and white expansion bracelet for $34, or these white porcelain rose clip on earrings for $28.

Illusion Jewels
Goes all the way back to the 1800's for their vintage jewellery. Shipping costs depend on the cost of the items you're buying but the most expensive shipping is $8.00. They accept Personal Cheques, Paypal and US Money orders from those in the US so are more flexible than some in payment methods.

I love their split of categories into jewellery types so those looking for say earrings can go directly to all the earrings and they have an awesome collection of renaissance jewellery.
I love so many things here, from these Elizabethan white pearl earrings for $20, this 1920's Marbilized blue pendant for $59 and Elizabethan pearls and sapphire drop necklace for $30 to this amazing Dragon's Breath Medieval Necklace for $98.

Vintage Jewellery on Etsy
Like I mentioned above Etsy is my favourite place to shop for vintage jewellery followed by Ebay. Etsy has many stores that specialise in vintage jewellery, like the Eclectic Diva for example.

Bbut search and you will find many treasures in vintage and vintage inspired jewellery like this Amelia Heart Locket and Bird Necklace for $24.50 from RoseAndRaven, this adjustable Bloodstone Ring from thebutteryhottness for $18 or this stunning Noveau Lavalier Necklace from TheTreasureCat for $65.

1928 Jewelry
Specialising in Vintage Bridal and fashion jewellery 1928 is a great little store. They have flat rate shipping of $5 or free for any order over $50, and you can follow them on Facebook and Twitter so you can keep up to date with any sales or specials. They also donate 5% of all sales to the L.I.F.E Animal Rescue charity so some of your money goes to helping save animals from shelters find homes instead of being put down. So what's not to love about shopping here?

I found lots of treasures like this Blue Antique Cameo Ring for $25, this Victorian Black Gemstone Bead Necklace for $16 and this very nice Side Flower Pendant Multi Chain Necklace for $20.

Gianna's Gems
Specialise in quality hard to find vintage jewellery especially signed designer vintage. The menu is on the right side which is a little different, but it's split into many categories so it's easy to find what you're looking for.

There's free shipping to the USA and Canada which is awesome, and if you want to see additional photo's of the pieces before you buy you can email them and they're happy to provide them. Layaways are available on orders over $200 for those looking to spend big. They also have a mailing list if you want to keep up to date with new stock.

I found a few things I really liked such as this Aurora Borealis Heart Chain for $30 and these Vermeil Sterling Earrings with Blue Stones for $34.

Great Vintage Jewelry
Great Vintage Jewelry have exactly what they claim - great jewellery.  You can search for jewellery by colour, designer, price and country of origin, or use many of the categories on their menu bar to navigate through.

You can pay via paypal or credit card and shipping price depends on how fast you want your purchase but is reasonably priced. They also offer gift vouchers, which might be a great choice for Christmas this year. (They do free gift wrapping too if you're buying other Christmas gifts from here).

Anyway check them out to find pieces like this rare Bohemian Ring for $85, this Crystal Ball Watermelon Orb Ring for $65 and these cute Big Hoop Earrings in Funky Purple Metallic for $22.

A Vintage Costume Jewelry Addiction
I love the name of this site. Kind of seems like the perfect site for me since I am addicted to Jewellery. They have a special "rehab program" Where if you buy a piece of jewellery every month for a year you'll receive free jewellery. So if you're a regular buying this might be the perfect site for you too.

You can pay by Cheque, Money Order or Credit Card (they accept over the phone payments there) and shipping again depends on how urgently you want the jewellery but is affordable. They are very strict with checking credit cards to cut down fraud so you can buy with confidence here.

I think they have a great eye for unique and beautiful vintage jewellery and found lots I liked including this Blue Moonstone Necklace for $144, these Juliana Earrings for $69 and these Catseye Earrings for $36.

Granny's Jewelry Box
Don't let the name fool you. This isn't a bunch of jewellery for old people but a fine collection of Vintage Jewellery for everyone. It's well established, having been around since 1997 and one unique feature of this site is that if the icon to the below right of the homepage indicates the owner is online you can chat with her to ask any questions you may have.

They accept credit card or paypal payments and also offer layaway. They have a big range, I especially like their pins/broach section. You'll find lots of interesting pieces here such as this beautiful Amber Cameo Pin for $45.

Rhinestonespast.com
Although they seem to specialise in rhinestone jewellery they do have quite a bit of other jewellery. They offer flat rate shipping and payment is via paypal only (although they do accept paypal echeques).

I like their Native American section which is a nice addition. They don't have a big range but they are definitely worth a look. I found a lot of nice stuff like like Metal Art Deco Necklace for $17, This Mother of Pearl Navajo Ring for $30 and this Sterling Honey Amber Ring for $39.75.

Affordable Vintage Jewelery
This is another great store, probably has the best website design out of all the stores so it's a pleasure to shop here. They have some interesting sections like Military Jewellery which is intriguing. Paypal and Credit Card payments are accepted and shipping depends on the total cost of your order but is all affordable.

I liked this 1960's Silver Rhodium Bracelet for $20, this Chrome Plated Art Deco Bracelet for $95 and this pretty 1920's Silver Broach with the Egyptian Pyramids in bronze on it for $125.

There are literally hundreds of vintage jewellery stores online, so it can be very hard to narrow down what are the best sites to buy from, but through my research the above sites were the ones that kept coming up and being mentioned, and I feel offer the best ranges available online. If you see other sites you like please mention in my comments, but some other honerable mentions from me are:

All Vintage Jewelry
Ruby Lane
Eureka, I Found It
Eclectic Vintage
Annie Sherman Vintage Jewelry

Now before I go you may be wondering how do you know what is real vintage and what is fake or vintage inspired? It can sometimes be hard to tell and so this link at Suite101 may come in useful for helping determine if you're buying real vintage or not, as well as this article here.

Also for those that are very creative there are ways of giving your existing jewellery a revamp or to make dated looking vintage pieces look more fashionable - and that's by using elements of your existing jewellery to create something new. Try this link to find out how to make a necklace from a vintage broach for example.

Happy shopping everybody!
Cheers,
Listerino