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The Bling Society Essence

The Bling Society collections are about glamour.  Effortless Glamour.  Timeless, and in its simplest form.  For a woman gems have always been associated with fashion and beauty. The source of a woman's secret smile.  Their sparkle brings meaning to classic looks, and adds the finishing touch to that perfect statement.  The Bling Society designs items that display the true blend of affordability and brilliance.

 Affordability Is Priceless TM


The Art of Costume Jewellery

The term costume jewellery dates back to the early 20th century.
It reflects the use of the word "costume" to refer to what is now called an "outfit"; for example, a "handsome street costume of maroon brown velvet". Costume jewellery is meant to complement a particular fashionable garment or "costume"; Hence the name, "costume jewellery".

Vision of Design

Costume jewellery (also called trinkets, fashion jewellery, fake jewellery, or fallalery) is jewellery manufactured as ornamentation to complement a particular fashionable costume or garment. Costume jewellery came into being in the 1930s as a cheap, disposable accessory meant to be worn with a specific outfit. It was intended to be fashionable for a short period of time, out date itself, and then be repurchased to fit with a new outfit or new fashion style. Its main use is in fashion, as opposed to "real" (fine) jewellery which may be regarded primarily as collectibles, keepsakes, or investments. Costume jewellery is made of less valuable materials including base metals, glass, plastic, and synthetic stones; in place of more valuable materials such as precious metals and gems.

Costume jewellery can be characterized by the period in history in which it was made.

Art Deco period (1920–1930s)

The Art Deco movement was an attempt to combine the harshness of mass production with the sensitivity of art and design. It was during this period that Coco Chanel introduced costume jewellery to complete the costume. The Art Deco movement died with the onset of the Great Depression and the outbreak of World War II. Some of the characteristics of the costume jewellery in the Art Deco period were:

Free-flowing curves were replaced with a harshly geometric and symmetrical theme,
Long pendants, bangle bracelets, cocktail rings, and elaborate accessory items such as cigarette cases and holders

Retro period (1935 to 1950s)

In the Retro period, designers struggled with the art versus mass production dilemma. Natural materials merged with plastics. Jewellery featured produced American-made jewellery that took on the American look. With the war in Europe, many European jewellery firms were shut down and several designers immigrated to the U.S. Europe was in a deep depression and the U.S. was enjoying an economic recovery. Some of the characteristics of the costume jewellery in the Retro period were:

Glamour, elegance, and sophistication
Flowers, bows, and sunburst designs with a Hollywood flair
Moonstones, horse motifs, military influence, and ballerinas
Bakelite and other plastic jewellery

Art Modern period (1945 to 1960s)

In the Art Modern period following World War II, jewellery designs became more traditional and understated. The big, bold styles of the Retro period went out of style and were replaced by the more tailored styles of the 1950s and 1960s. Some of the characteristics of the costume jewellery in the Art Modern period were:

Bold, lavish jewellery
Large, chunky bracelets, charm bracelets, Jade/opal, charm bracelets, citrine, topaz
Poodle pins, Christmas tree pins, and other Christmas jewellery
Rhinestones

General history

Costume jewellery has been part of culture for almost 300 years. During the 18th century cheap jewellery made with glass started getting made. After almost a century, in the 19th century, costume jewellery made of semi precious material came into the market. The use of semi precious material made the jewellery available in the hands of the common people.

But the real golden era for the costume jewellery began in the middle of the 20th century. The new middle class desired to own beautiful but affordable jewellery, and this desire was realised by its perfect timing: it came during the machine-age and the industrial revolution. All this made possible the production of carefully executed replicas of beautiful and admired heirloom pieces.

As the class structure in America changed, so did measures of real wealth. Women in all social stations, even the working-class woman, could own a small piece of costume jewellery. The average town and country woman could acquire and wear a considerable amount of this mass-produced jewellery that was both affordable and stylish.

Many feel that the machine has spoilt the beauty of the hand-made costume jewellery; the truth is that the machine has made fashion jewellery more affordable and has enabled people to produce enough of this jewellery to fuel the interest of millions of ladies from all around the world. Costume jewellery was further made popular by various designers in the mid-20th century. Some of the most remembered names in costume jewellery include both the high and low priced brands: Crown Trifari, Dior, Chanel, Miriam Haskell, Monet, Napier, Corocraft and Coventry.

A significant factor in the popularisation of costume jewellery was the Hollywood movie. The leading female stars of the 1940s and 1950s often wore and then endorsed the pieces produced by a range of designers. If you admired a necklace worn by Bette Davis in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, you could buy a copy from Joseff of Hollywood, who made the original. Stars such as Vivien Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor and Jane Russell appeared in adverts for the pieces and the availability of the collections in shops such as Woolworth made it possible for ordinary women to own and wear such jewellery.

Coco Chanel greatly popularised the use of faux jewellery in her years as a fashion designer, bringing costume jewellery to life with gold and faux pearls. Kenneth Jay Lane has since the 1960s been known for creating unique pieces for Jackie Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Vreeland, and Audrey Hepburn. He is probably best known for his three-strand faux pearl necklace worn by Barbara Bush to her husband's inaugural ball.

In many instances, high-end fashion jewellery has achieved a "collectible" status, and increases in value over time. Today, there is a substantial secondary market for vintage fashion jewellery. The main collecting market is for 'signed pieces', that is pieces which have the maker's mark, usually stamped on the reverse. Amongst the most sought after are Miriam Haskell, Coro, Crown Trifari, Sphinx and The Bling Society. However, there is also demand for good quality 'unsigned' pieces, especially if they are of an unusual design.


Vision of Craftsmanship

Originally, costume or fashion jewellery was made of inexpensive simulated gemstones, such as rhinestones or lucite, set in pewter, silver, nickel or brass. During the depression years, rhinestones were even down-graded by some manufacturers to meet the cost of production. An interesting phenomenon occurred during the World War II era, when sterling silver was often incorporated into costume jewellery designs. This was driven by primarily two factors: 1. The components used for base metal were needed for war time production (i.e., military applications) and a ban was placed on their use in the private sector. 2. Base metal was originally popular because it could approximate platinum's color, sterling silver fulfilled the same function. This resulted in a number of years during which sterling silver costume jewellery was produced and some can still be found in today's vintage jewellery marketplace.

Modern costume jewellry incorporates a wide range of materials. High end crystals, cubic zirconia, simulated diamonds, and some semi-precious stones are used in place of precious stones. Metals include gold or silver-plated brass, and sometimes vermeil or sterling silver. Lower-priced jewellery may still use gold plating over pewter, nickel or other metals; items made in countries outside the Australia may contain lead. Some pieces incorporate plastic, acrylic, leather or wood.


Vision of Diamond Simulant

Natural minerals that (when cut) optically resemble white diamonds are rare, because the trace impurities usually present in natural minerals tend to impart color. The earliest simulants of diamond were colorless quartz (A form of silica, which also form obsidian, glass and sand), crystal (a type of quartz), topaz, and beryl (goshenite); they are all common minerals with above-average hardness (7–8), but all have low RIs and correspondingly low dispersions. Well-formed quartz crystals are sometimes offered as "diamonds," a popular example being the so-called "Herkimer diamonds" mined in Herkimer County, New York. Topaz's SG (3.50–3.57) also falls within the range of diamond.

From a historical perspective, the most notable natural simulant of diamond is zircon. It is also fairly hard (7.5), but more importantly shows perceptible fire when cut, due to its high dispersion of 0.039. Colorless zircon has been mined in Sri Lanka for over 2,000 years; prior to the advent of modern mineralogy, colorless zircon was thought to be an inferior form of diamond. It was called "Matara diamond" after its source location. It is still encountered as a diamond simulant, but differentiation is easy due to zircon's anisotropy and strong birefringence (0.059). It is also notoriously brittle and often shows wear on the girdle and facet edges.

Much less common than colorless zircon is colorless scheelite. Its dispersion (0.026) is also high enough to mimic diamond, but although it is highly lustrous its hardness is much too low (4.5–5.5) to maintain a good polish. It is also anisotropic and fairly dense (SG 5.9–6.1). Synthetic scheelite produced via the Czochralski process is available, but it has never been widely used as a diamond simulant. Due to the scarcity of natural gem-quality scheelite, synthetic scheelite is much more likely to simulate it than diamond. A similar case is the orthorhombic carbonate cerussite, which is so fragile (very brittle with four directions of good cleavage) and soft (hardness 3.5) that it is never seen set in jewellery, and only occasionally seen in gem collections because it is so difficult to cut. Cerussite gems have an adamantine luster, high RI (1.804–2.078), and high dispersion (0.051), making them attractive and valued collector's pieces. Aside from softness, they are easily distinguished by cerussite's high density (SG 6.51) and anisotropy with extreme birefringence (0.271).

Due to their rarity fancy-colored diamonds are also imitated, and zircon can serve this purpose too. Applying heat treatment to brown zircon can create several bright colors: these are most commonly sky-blue, golden yellow, and red. Blue zircon is very popular, but it is not necessarily color stable; prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light (including the UV component in sunlight) tends to bleach the stone. Heat treatment also imparts greater brittleness to zircon and characteristic inclusions.

Another fragile candidate mineral is sphalerite (zinc blende). Gem-quality material is usually a strong yellow to honey brown, orange, red, or green; its very high RI (2.37) and dispersion (0.156) make for an extremely lustrous and fiery gem, and it is also isotropic. But here again, its low hardness (2.5–4) and perfect dodecahedral cleavage preclude sphalerite's wide use in jewellery. Two calcium-rich members of the garnet group fare much better: these are grossularite (usually brownish orange, rarely colorless, yellow, green, or pink) and andradite. The latter is the rarest and most costly of the garnets, with three of its varieties—topazolite (yellow), melanite (black), and demantoid (green)—sometimes seen in jewellery. Demantoid (literally "diamond-like") especially has been prized as a gemstone since its discovery in the Ural Mountains in 1868; it is a noted feature of antique Russian and Art Nouveau jewellery. Titanite or sphene is also seen in antique jewellery; it is typically some shade of chartreuse and has a luster, RI (1.885–2.050), and dispersion (0.051) high enough to be mistaken for diamond, yet it is anisotropic (a high birefringence of 0.105–0.135) and soft (hardness 5.5).

Discovered the 1960s, the rich green tsavorite variety of grossular is also very popular. Both grossular and andradite are isotropic and have relatively high RIs (ca. 1.74 and 1.89, respectively) and high dispersions (0.027 and 0.057), with demantoid's exceeding diamond. However, both have a low hardness (6.5–7.5) and invariably possess inclusions atypical of diamond—the byssolite "horsetails" seen in demantoid are one striking example. Furthermore, most are very small, typically under 0.5 carats (100 mg) in weight. Their lusters range from vitreous to subadamantine, to almost metallic in the usually opaque melanite, which has been used to simulate black diamond. Some natural spinel is also a deep black and could serve this same purpose.