70s Jewellery : Need to Know

The 1970s is the only decade where a safety pin and a crystal drop earring could both be correct. Not interchangeable — correct. Each belonging to a different world, each carrying a different set of values, each entirely unwilling to acknowledge the other.

That's what makes the 70s unusual. It wasn't one aesthetic pushed further. It was five or six aesthetics running simultaneously, each with its own icons, its own materials, its own logic. Bohemian beading, disco glitter, punk hardware, modernist gold — the decade held all of it, and none of it was background noise.

For collectors, this is what makes the 1970s one of the most rewarding eras to work in. The range is extraordinary. So is the quality.

The cultural moment

A few things collided in the early 1970s that made it such a fertile period for jewellery.

The women's liberation movement was reshaping how women dressed and presented themselves. Fashion was no longer about following a single prescribed silhouette — it was about personal expression, and jewellery became one of the most visible ways to signal allegiance.

Colour television reached mass adoption in the UK by the mid-1970s — colour sets outnumbered black and white in British homes by 1976. The nation could now see David Bowie's glittering costumes, the sequined dresses on Top of the Pops, Studio 54 in full technicolour. People could copy what they saw. The 70s was arguably the first decade of aspirational dressing at scale.

Music drove it. Each movement had a sound, a look, and a jewellery vocabulary to match.

Yellow gold

If there's one material that cuts across every corner of 1970s jewellery, it's yellow gold. Gold-tone everything: chunky chains, oversized hoops, link bracelets, medallion pendants. The preference for warm, rich tones over silver and white metals was near-universal — a stark contrast to what the 1990s would bring.

In designer costume jewellery, this meant heavy gold plating on base metals, often to a remarkably high standard. Givenchy expanded into costume jewellery in the early 1970s, and date-stamped pieces from 1975–1980 are known for plating so thick that many show minimal tarnishing nearly fifty years later. Dior, through their long-running partnership with German manufacturer Henkel & Grosse, was producing equally substantial pieces throughout the decade — weighty, well-constructed, built with the same seriousness as fine jewellery.

The quality of 1970s gold plating is one of the things that sets the decade apart from what came after. These weren't disposable pieces.

Bohemian

The bohemian strand had roots in late-1960s counterculture, but by the 70s it had crossed into mainstream fashion. Designers like Yves Saint Laurent and Kenzo were incorporating folk and ethnic references into their collections; jewellery followed suit.

Favoured materials were natural and organic: turquoise, amber, coral, wood, bone, shells, seed beads. Pieces were layered — multiple strands of beads, stacked bangles, pendant necklaces worn two or three at a time. The look rejected the formal matched sets of earlier decades entirely.

Afghan and Tibetan silver, Native American turquoise work, and Indian metalwork all influenced mainstream fashion jewellery during this period — often more appreciated than accurately attributed, something the industry has since become more thoughtful about.

Stevie Nicks, Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin. Their layered, eclectic approach — mixing handmade pieces with vintage finds — is a look that has never really left.

Disco

When disco hit mid-decade, jewellery had a new job: catch the light. Crystal-encrusted drop earrings designed to swing with movement, gold and silver mesh necklaces, stacking bangles, sparkly chokers. If it glittered, it worked.

Geometric shapes dominated — clean lines, bold angles, forms that reflected the era's simultaneous love of futurism and Art Deco revival. Studio 54 was the epicentre, Bianca Jagger and Donna Summer the reference points, but the look spread fast. By the late 70s, high-shine jewellery was as common on a night out in Birmingham as in Manhattan.

For designer costume jewellery, disco was a golden period. Dior, Givenchy and Lanvin all produced pieces specifically calibrated for evening wear — long chains, oversized pendants, statement earrings in crystals and lucite. Many of these are among the most collectible 70s pieces today.

Glam rock

Glam hit in the early 70s and changed the rules about who could wear what. Bowie's Ziggy Stardust persona — rhinestones, costume jewellery that would have been categorised as "women's" accessories a decade earlier — opened the door to a much more fluid approach to the whole category.

Marc Bolan, Roxy Music, the New York Dolls: rhinestone chokers, oversized rings, chain belts. Theatrical, excessive, deliberately provocative. Glam rock made bold jewellery on men acceptable, pushed women's jewellery into deliberately over-the-top territory, and laid the groundwork for the maximalism that defined the 1980s.

Punk

Punk arrived mid-to-late decade and brought the opposite logic entirely. Where disco was about glamour and bohemianism was about nature, punk was about confrontation.

Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, operating from their King's Road shop SEX (later Seditionaries), were the driving force behind punk fashion. The jewellery was aggressive by design: safety pins as earrings and brooches, studded leather cuffs, padlock necklaces, dog collar chokers, chains sourced from hardware shops. The DIY ethic was non-negotiable — punk jewellery didn't come from a workshop.

The influence outlasted the movement by decades. The idea that jewellery could be rough, handmade and confrontational — rather than polished and decorative — permanently expanded what the medium could do.

Collecting the 1970s

The 70s sits at a useful sweet spot for collectors: old enough to be genuinely vintage, recent enough that strong pieces are still findable, and diverse enough that there's something for almost every taste.

Quality was high across the board in designer costume jewellery. Gold plating was thick and durable. Findings were well-engineered. Crystals and rhinestones were properly set. The houses producing costume jewellery in the 1970s — Givenchy, Dior, YSL, Lanvin, Monet, Trifari — were treating it as a luxury category, not a disposable one.

Dating is often straightforward. Givenchy pieces from 1975–1980 are date-stamped. Dior pieces from this era carry Henkel & Grosse signature plates with year codes. Unsigned vintage pieces have their own identifiers — yellow gold tones, chunky proportions, specific clasp types — that place them clearly in the decade.

And 70s jewellery wears well. Unlike some earlier pieces that can feel fragile or overly formal for everyday use, 70s jewellery was designed to be bold and durable. A good 1970s gold chain works as well with a T-shirt today as it did with a halter neck in 1977.

The designer houses

Givenchy expanded into costume jewellery in the early 1970s. The date-stamped 1975–1980 window is the most sought-after for collectors — snake chains, modernist pendants in enamel and lucite, and the double G clasp, all in exceptional plating.

Dior continued their Henkel & Grosse partnership throughout the decade, producing a wide range — chunky resin necklaces, all-metal designs, bold chains. Most pieces carry date codes as part of the Grosse signature plate.

Yves Saint Laurent was producing some of the decade's most striking costume jewellery — oversized brooches, heavy chain necklaces, pieces incorporating semi-precious stones, all reflecting the house's fusion of bohemian, ethnic and modernist influences.

Lanvin produced elegant gold-tone pieces throughout the 70s, often featuring bold chain links and distinctive enamel work.

Monet and Trifari were the quality American options at more accessible price points. Monet known for clean gold-plated chains and modernist design; Trifari continuing the tradition of intricate, well-made costume pieces they'd been refining since the 1930s.

Jagged Metal specialises in authenticated vintage designer and costume jewellery from the 1960s through to Y2K. Browse our 1970s jewellery collection or explore our full collection.