Pot Metal Jewelry the Workhorse of the 30's

                                                                             

This blog entry falls close to my own interest. I personally happen to love and collect to a small extent myself pot metal jewelry. I rarely keep a piece because of course I am in the business of selling, but every once in a while one whispers to me, 'Go ahead it won't hurt just this once to keep me.' and when one actually whispers to me well what are you going to do you can't possibly sell talking jewelry to unsuspecting customers that would just be wrong.

Pot Metal is a mix of many things and it is never a exact science. It seems that was the attraction at the time, what ever was on hand was pretty much used as long as it was not a precious metal it went into the  melting pot. You may well find zinc, lead, copper,tin, magnesium,aluminum, iron and cadmium in pot metal. I do not recommend you ever put it into your mouth, I have never heard of a issue from it but just don't.

Pot Metal is referred to by some interesting names , base metal, white metal which of course refers to its pewter like light toned coloring, and even for some strange reason monkey metal. I have never found out the reasoning behind this name.

Pot metal was useful because it was easily cast in molds so jewelry manufacturers were pleased with the low cost and the ease of use. The war effort was funneling most of their previously used metals into support for troops and weapons. When I look at a piece of pot metal jewelry I see a time when a entire country worked together and unselfishly gave up many things to support their troops and country. It was a amazing time.

Jewelry designers camouflaged pot metal with enamel and rhinestones. Many of the pieces of this era are beautifully enameled and set with stones.

At times manufacturer's would finish a piece with a thin coating of gold such as vermeil or silver plate. The finish often wore away fairly quickly and you will find these majestically beauties in a half dressed manner at flea markets waiting for someone to recognize that they are indeed truly still lovely. (The huge three dimensional floral brooch is one such as this, its finish is wearing away yet it is still beautiful. Please see the photo on this blog).

Many dress clips are made of pot metal when you pick them up you will notice the heavy weight they are for the size that they appear, a good indication of pot metal. Flip them over and if the back is a soft pewter gray in color you most likely are holding a pot metal piece.

Often Pot Metal is over looked in the race to purchase vintage jewelry, but it should be one of the first stops, it is a foundation stone in vintage jewelry and there are many unique and fine examples just waiting for you to find them.

Look carefully, They are subject to pitting , cracking and breakage. Misguided dealers buy enamel paint and repaint the enamel on any damaged areas often disastrously. It is better to have a few chips in the enamel than to have some gloppy hobby paint on the piece making it look flawless. If you want to have flawless enamel you can send it to be re enameled by a person that knows what they are doing.

If you have any questions please let me know I will try to answer them. Thank you for reading my blog. Blueheeler309