What Does Vintage Actually Mean? A Definitive Guide to Vintage, Antique, Retro & Deadstock

By Jagged Metal

The word "vintage" gets thrown around a lot — and often incorrectly. Walk into any charity shop or scroll through any online marketplace and you'll find ten-year-old high street pieces labelled "vintage," which doesn't exactly help anyone trying to understand what the term actually means. If you're buying vintage jewellery, particularly designer pieces, knowing the difference between vintage, antique, retro, estate and deadstock isn't just useful — it's essential for making informed purchases and spotting sellers who don't know what they're talking about.

Here's how the jewellery trade actually defines these terms.

Vintage Jewellery: The Industry Definition

In the jewellery trade, vintage describes a piece that is at least 20 years old but less than 100 years old. That's the broad definition, and it's the one most widely accepted by dealers and auction houses. Some purists insist on 50 years as the threshold, but 20 years is the standard used across most of the industry, particularly for costume jewellery and designer fashion jewellery.

As of 2026, that means anything made before 2006 qualifies as vintage. A pair of Givenchy clip-on earrings from the 1980s? Vintage. A Chanel brooch from 1995? Vintage. A Y2K Dior choker from 2001? Also vintage — just.

The important thing is that age alone doesn't make something valuable or interesting. A piece of cheap, mass-produced jewellery from 1998 technically qualifies as vintage by age, but it's not what anyone means when they talk about collecting vintage jewellery. What gives vintage jewellery its appeal is the combination of age, design quality, craftsmanship, and the cultural context it reflects.

Antique Jewellery: 100 Years and Older

Antique has a much stricter definition: a piece must be at least 100 years old to be classified as antique. This is the standard used internationally, including by customs authorities — the United States Customs Act specifically defines antiques as items over 100 years old.

In 2026, that means anything made before 1926 is antique. Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian and early Art Deco jewellery all fall into this category. Art Deco is an interesting case because it spans roughly 1920 to 1935, meaning some early Art Deco pieces now qualify as antique while later ones remain vintage.

Antique jewellery is typically fine jewellery — precious metals and gemstones — rather than costume jewellery, simply because costume jewellery as a distinct category didn't really emerge until the 1920s and 1930s.

At Jagged Metal, we specialise in vintage costume and designer fashion jewellery from the 1960s through to Y2K, so our collection sits firmly in the vintage category rather than antique.

Retro: A Style Term, Not an Age

Retro is where things get a bit loose. Unlike vintage and antique, retro isn't strictly an age classification — it's more of a style descriptor. In jewellery trade terminology, "Retro" with a capital R specifically refers to the Retro period of approximately 1935 to 1950, characterised by bold, oversized designs in rose and yellow gold, often featuring large semi-precious stones. This era was shaped by wartime restrictions on platinum and precious gems.

In everyday usage, though, "retro" tends to mean anything that evokes or references an earlier style. A modern piece made to look like it's from the 1970s might be called retro, but it's not vintage. This is a crucial distinction: retro describes a look, while vintage describes an age. A genuinely vintage piece from the 1970s and a brand-new piece designed to look like it's from the 1970s are very different things in terms of value, authenticity and collectibility.

Estate Jewellery: Previously Owned, Any Age

Estate jewellery simply means any piece that has had a previous owner. That's it. A ring bought last year and resold today is estate jewellery. A Victorian brooch passed down through five generations is also estate jewellery. The term says nothing about age — it only tells you the piece is second-hand.

Estate, vintage and antique categories frequently overlap. A previously owned 1960s Dior necklace is simultaneously estate jewellery (because it had a prior owner), vintage jewellery (because it's over 20 but under 100 years old), and designer jewellery. The terms aren't mutually exclusive.

You'll sometimes see "estate" used as a polite euphemism for "second-hand," particularly at auction houses and in higher-end resale markets. It doesn't carry any additional meaning about quality or provenance beyond the fact of previous ownership.

Deadstock Vintage: Unworn and Unissued

Deadstock — sometimes written as "dead stock" or abbreviated to NOS (New Old Stock) — describes vintage items that have never been worn or used. These are pieces that were manufactured decades ago but were never sold, often surfacing from old warehouse stock, shop closures, or forgotten inventory.

Deadstock vintage jewellery is essentially a time capsule. A deadstock 1980s brooch will be in the same condition as the day it left the factory — no wear, no patina, no lost stones, no replating. For collectors, this is obviously significant. You're getting a genuinely vintage piece with none of the condition issues that come with decades of use.

At Jagged Metal, we source deadstock pieces alongside pre-owned vintage, and we're always transparent about which is which. Deadstock pieces are typically in pristine condition, though storage over many years can occasionally leave minor marks or tarnishing even on unworn items.

Costume Jewellery vs. Fine Jewellery: Why It Matters for Vintage

One distinction that often gets overlooked in "what is vintage" discussions is the difference between costume jewelleryand fine jewellery, because the vintage market for each operates quite differently.

Fine jewellery is made from precious metals (gold, platinum, silver) and genuine gemstones. Its value is tied partly to materials and partly to design and provenance. Costume jewellery — also called fashion jewellery — is made from base metals, glass, resin, crystals and other non-precious materials. Its value is almost entirely about design, brand, era and condition rather than material worth.

The vintage costume jewellery market is a distinct world from the antique fine jewellery market. When we talk about vintage Chanel, Dior, Givenchy or Céline jewellery, we're talking about costume pieces — gold-plated base metals, glass pearls, crystal rhinestones, enamel work. These pieces weren't cheap when they were new (they were luxury fashion accessories), and the best examples are now highly collectible precisely because of their design quality and brand heritage, not because of any intrinsic material value.

This is actually what makes authentication so important in the vintage designer jewellery market. With fine jewellery, materials can be tested and verified. With costume jewellery, authentication relies on knowledge of hallmarks, construction techniques, materials, clasps, and design details specific to each brand and era.

How We Define Vintage at Jagged Metal

We specialise in authenticated vintage designer and costume jewellery from the 1960s through to Y2K — roughly 1960 to 2005. This spans some of the most collectible and culturally significant decades in fashion jewellery:

• 1960s: The emergence of bold, statement costume jewellery as a fashion category in its own right. Houses like Dior and Givenchy produced increasingly ambitious pieces.
• 1970s: Oversized chains, naturalistic motifs, bohemian influences. Gold-tone everything.
• 1980s: The power dressing era. Massive earrings, chunky bracelets, logo-heavy designs. This is when Chanel costume jewellery became truly iconic under Karl Lagerfeld's creative direction.
• 1990s: Minimalism meets logomania. Céline, Gucci and Dior pieces from this era are increasingly sought-after.
• Y2K (late 1990s–early 2000s): The newest vintage. Pieces from this era are just crossing the vintage threshold and represent some of the most affordable entry points into designer vintage jewellery.

Every piece we sell is authenticated using our knowledge of brand-specific hallmarks, construction methods, materials and design signatures. We date pieces to their era based on these details rather than guesswork, and we're upfront about condition.

Why Any of This Matters

Understanding these terms isn't just academic. It directly affects what you're buying and what you should be paying:

If a seller calls a 15-year-old piece "vintage," that's technically incorrect and may suggest a lack of expertise. Proceed with caution.

If a seller calls a 60-year-old piece "antique," they're overstating the age by the industry's standard definition. Not necessarily dishonest, but imprecise — and precision matters when you're spending money.

If a seller describes something as "vintage style" or "vintage inspired," that means it's a modern reproduction, not a genuine vintage piece. The language matters enormously here.

Good terminology is a baseline indicator of whether a seller knows their stock. It's not the only thing that matters — authentication expertise, transparent condition reporting and honest dating are all equally important — but it's a useful starting point for assessing credibility.

Jagged Metal is a UK-based vintage jewellery specialist offering fully authenticated designer and costume pieces from the 1960s to Y2K. Browse our collection or learn more about how we authenticate vintage jewellery.