Fabulous Fakes: A Passion for Vintage Costume Jewelry

You may have seen them in some wonderful old movie, sparkling on Audrey Hepburn or Claudette Colbert, looking as if they cost millions of dollars. They didn’t; they are not the real thing. But even though they are faux, they’re made with the same care and attention as the real things: strands of artificial pearls individually knotted, “gems” hand set and pronged, plastic bangles more stunning than ivory. Fabulous Fakes gives you one hundred years of the most amazing pieces of costume jewelry ever produced, in brilliant and beautiful color.

It tells their story, starting with mass-produced Victorian jewelry, moving through the wonderfully sophisticated lines of art deco geometrics, and parking at the doorstep of 1990s designer and artisanal jewelry.

Whether you love the boldness of Czech crystal or the delicate handiwork of Miriam Haskell, whether your jewels are part of your everyday fashion or a breathtaking collection of objets, the thrill of finding them is the same. Fabulous Fakes is your treasure map to discovering the craftsmanship and tradition that have made these pieces part of our collective memory.