I have just started looking at these....and I bought a Lucite bracelete today for $32.00. I think I got a pretty good deal, but maybe not - jury's still out on that. Its clear, carved with a leaf motif interspersed with a flower motif and a rhinestone in each center. Its clear. Kinda like this, but i have to say, mine is infinitely better (the one here is priced at $52):




I saw a Bakelite bracelet I am dying for, but its $225 (!) and I just don't have it for a bracelet! Its a cat motif with lots of little rhinestones. It looks like the original color was pink and its now faded to an orangey-pink. I'm wondering if $225 is a good price for it. It seems worth it. i can't even find an image that remotely represents this bracelet.

I think I have an art book with lucite and bakelite pictures. If I do, I may post some scans.

I have a blue lucite turtle knick-knack.

Hi Safe,

thanks for posting. I did some more scouting today on Bakelite and got to talk to a couple vendor/colletors. The Lucite is fairly inexpensive because it comes after the Bakelite (and produced by Dupont). Apparently, the Bakelite gained huge popularity because Andy Warhol was a collector of it. In 1988 his collection was sold and fetched some mighty high prices ~ I'm attributing that to his fame more than the fame of Bakelite. In any case, one lady I talked to today said Bakelite prices have gone down compared to about 3 years ago and are currently holding steady (she had a wide amber/brown bangle priced at about $54 that three years ago she says she would have priced at $150). I am told that the ones with unusual carvings or designs are the pieces that are going to hold their value the best and I described the cat bracelet to her and she said the $225 price was fair. I just put a call in to the vendor of the cat bangle to see if she'd take an offer on it. Am waiting to hear back. I won't hold my breath ~ I'm fairly certain she'll flat out say no.

After doing a little research on the internet, I learned that Chinese manufacturers are making a facsimile of the vintage pieces, so caution is encouraged when buying (especially from internet retailers). There are several ways to test for genuine Bakelitee ~ primarily, heat it up (rubbing it or placing it under hot water) and if it smells like formaldehyde, its Bakelite! Lucite, on the other hand, has no distinctive odor.

I also ran across quite a bit of Miriam Haskell today, too. One vendor lady had a faux pearl strand for $695. She's a little full of herself because even on the internet, prices were half that for MH jewelry.

Miriam Wosk is an artist whose vision is inspired by things she collects screens and furniture, patterned textiles, sequins and glitter. Some of these ("many of these," she confirms) inspirations were foraged from flea markets. Often, they're gold. The French Art Deco gold-leaf dressing table, seen at right in her Los Angeles bedroom, was bought not at a flea market but from a dealer on Melrose Avenue. The turn-of-the-century headless gilt display mannequin exhibited on its left and, close up, on the opposite page was bought at the first exhibit of modernist art and furniture she attended in New York City seven or eight years ago. She paid about $400 for it. "I saw it as a great sculptural form." Her display of Bakelite bracelets stacked on paint rollers (see attached images) have been her mix-and-match signature for more than ten years. "I collected them when they were still affordable." The same goes for the plastic necklaces hung around the mannequin's neck-"all bought from antique shows and fairs. I never spent more than twenty to twenty-five dollars for them." The painted woman's head to the left, a display piece from the 1930s, has been Miriam's so long she doesn't even remember where she got it. The ringleted ceramic woman on the right is actually a flower vase given to her by a friend who knew of her fondness for heads and faces (Carter 58-9).

Carter, Mary Randolph. American Junk. New York: Penguin Books USA Inc, 1994.

I had some bakelite grip panels on a Colt .45 automatic but I traded it off never realizing that crappy old stuff had any collector value.

Sounds like you got a great deal. The only bakelite piece I've picked up so far is the cherries brooch on the red bar. Never been into bakelite but the price was too good to pass up.

regarding the peach cat bangle....turns out its CELLULOID rather than Bakelite, probably 1940's. I got a tip to call another bakelite collector in the same antique mall and this lady said she has been coveting the very same bracelet and would buy it if she had the spare $225! I told her I didn't really have it either, but the store allows layaway. Bakelite is more collectible than Celluloid (in most cases), but the cat bangle is just so special. She said $225 was reasonable (not great, but reasonable for its quality and condition). I still haven't been able to find anything like it yet. I betcha anything this one cat bangle is pretty special and $225 will turn out to have been a bargain. Just a hunch....

so i was going to go buy my celluloid cat bracelet this weekend when I got sidetracked by a faux alexandrite pendant in 14k gold. at least I'm pretty sure its a faux, but i'm not a gemologist. it changes color REAL PURTY. goes from amethyst to a deep teal in certain light (but really gorgeous, not like those cheap mystic topaz's). how much do you think a genuine alexandrite, say about 12 cts., would be worth?

note to self - find a gemologist....

Robin,

On Pg. 151 of Warman's Jewelry is a picture of 3 fruit and bar brooches/pins. Here's the description for the strawberries (that actually looks like cherries):

Item C. five carved strawberries of red and light green Bakelite with dark green cellulose acetate leaves, on cellulose acetate chain with red links, suspended from rectangular red Bakelite bar, 2" w x 4", $975.

!!!

Can anyone find a value on an item similar to this? Apparently this item was for sale at Morninglory, but I think it was sold and the asking price is no longer there. :-(

Bakelite 129
Old carved cherries on a celluloid chain with plastic leaves and a bakelite bar. The pin measures 3-3/4" x 3".

$ 395.00




from:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...hl%3Den%26lr%3D

has anyone here been to the rose bowl flea market recently? how's the bakelite there? anyone know? how about signed costume jewelry? is it worth going to or are all the vendors really knowledgeable?

Bakelight looks really pretty, why did they quit making it?

Faydra, do you have a link for the necklace that has pineapples and pears (last image)? I'm looking for a price/value on it....tia

I had the first pin (the oranges) and the bananas.

My best fruit pieces were purple plums on a bar (similar to the cherries) and a multi-fruit piece my parents found at a Louisville flea market for $50 which - even back then - was a bargain.

Guest,

I haven't returned to this thread until now.

No, I've never seen anything like the coral/salmon colored bracelet. It looks French to me?