Fabulous Fakelite: Review of Bow & Crossbones Jewelry

*Not sponsored, I bought these items with my money and these are my opinions.*

  The brand Bow & Crossbones has been popping up quite a lot in the vintage community, and after having a look at their products I decided to dive in and order a few pieces.

  Bow & Crossbones is a UK based company that makes reproduction vintage jewelry, a lot of it is what is known as 'fakelite'(they also make reproduction lucite).  Fakelite is, usually, a modern resin plastic item that mimics the look and feel of Bakelite, but without the dangerous chemicals(and high price point).  What caught my eye with this brand in particular(since there are several companies making fakelite) was their 'Adelaide' line, which looks just like the very rare Philadelphia colored Bakelite, one of my favorite designs.  Since actual Philadelphia Bakelite is incredibly expensive, I was thrilled to find such a close copy.

  B&C then released their 'Tini Deco Fan' line, so I last minute bought the earrings(I'm looking for more bold but still casual earrings).

All.

Closeup of Adelaide bracelet.

Closeup of Adelaide earrings.

Closeup of Tini Deco Fan earrings.

  Overall I'm very impressed with this company.  The shipping cost from England was reasonable, and arrived in a little over a week.  The colors are almost exact shades of original Bakelite pieces(which was important to me so I can mix these with my actual Bakelite), and the texture and weight are very close as well.  I would absolutely purchase from Bow & Crossbones again, and highly recommend to those interested in mid-century reproduction jewelry.



Further Research:
Bow & Crossbones: 40's 50's Repro & Vintage Accessories
Bow & Crossbones: Adelaide Bracelet
Bow & Crossbones: Adelaide Fan Earrings
Bow & Crossbones: Tini Deco Fan Stud Earrings

For The Love Of Vintage Plastics: My Bakelite Collection

  Bakelite has been found in almost every antique store I've ever walked into, yet only when I find particular pieces at good prices do I indulge.  However, there is also the past-time of trying to find Bakelite among the heaps of costume jewelry at thrift and antique stores alike, and although I'm not quite obsessed enough to dig through mountains of plastic jewelry to find some, I have a couple pieces that weren't marked and only after purchasing did I discover to most likely be Bakelite.

My largest Bakelite piece - a sewing box from probably the 1920s/30s.  The outside is tarnished(as is usually the case), but the inside has retained its beautiful original color, a deep red swirled with black.   Inside the lid is stamped 'Domart Sewing Box, Patented, Made in U.S.A. by The Domart Company, Glenside, PA.'

  As for Bakelite jewelry - I'm surprised at just how directly the value is reflected in how collectible the piece is.  Bangles can go for hundreds of dollars in some cases, yet brooches and earrings can be found at much lower prices.  I personally don't like bangles, but I love earrings and brooches, so this works in my favor(I also like to coordinate colors, so being able to buy matching sets is wonderful!)

Two bar brooches from the 1930s, and one rather large piece from the 1940s.  Unfortunately I didn't notice that the red one was glued together in the corner, but for the price I'm still quite happy with it.

Red pair with screw backs, 1930s/40s; green/yellow swirl pair with clip-on backs, 1940s/50s; brown carved pair whose original backs were replaced with pierced ear backs(not done by me!), 1930s/1940s.

Three buckles, all 1930s/40s.  The green one was sold as Bakelite, but the red and brown weren't - I only found out once I cleaned them and they emitted that pungent chemical smell all Bakelite collectors are familiar with(I'm still not completely sure about the brown buckle - the hue is different from my other brown Bakelite, but I'm still including it).

A rainbow of Bakelite!

For The Love Of Vintage Plastics: Bakelite

  I should have known that my growing interest in all things vintage and antique would lead me to one of the most popular collectibles among men and women alike - Bakelite.  Bakelite is the candy of the plastic world, from its bright rainbow bangles to psychedelic swirled radios, anything and everything was once made from Bakelite.

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  With the decreased use of celluloid because of its explosive nature, there was room for improvement as well as the need for a plastic that was not dependent on natural resources.  The miracle came from chemist Leo Baekeland in 1907, who was successful in creating the first completely synthetic plastic, a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin to which he named Bakelite.  Not only was it completely man-made, it was cheap and heat resistant, much unlike its predecessor celluloid.  These properties made Bakelite the primary plastic from 1909-1950s.  Its heat resistance made it popular in electrical devices like telephones, radios, switches, and sewing machine feet, as well as gaining favor in the fashion world for its versatility as Art Deco jewelry, buttons, and belt buckles. It was used in plates, cutlery, children's toys, cameras, smoking paraphernalia, the list goes on.

Advertisement, 1938.
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Advertising booklet showing the variety of Bakelite products from 1941.

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  Bakelite is known as a type of plastic, but it is also a brand(that later branched out into other plastics as is seen in the photo above).  Another brand called Catalin from the American Catalin Corporation acquired the patent for Baekeland's formaldehyde resin in 1927 and made their own version with less and differing fillers.  The belief is widely held that true Bakelite was only made in dark colors like brown, black, and deep red, and that any other color is actually Catalin.  Some advertisements from the time seem to suggest otherwise, but it is safe to say that both Bakelite and Catalin are formaldehyde resins that hold their value as well as their collectible status, and both terms are now mostly used interchangeably.

 Bakelite color chart.  From Gifts to Treasure, Embed Art Company catalog, 1924.

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Another Bakelite color chart, unknown date and source. 

  Even though Bakelite seemed like a miracle, it too had its downfall.  Unlike the obvious problems that came from celluloid, Bakelite's issue was subtle but just as dangerous, that being the formaldehyde used in its production.  Formaldehyde, the same chemical used in the embalming process, has cancer causing properties.  These cancer causing agents can leech from the Bakelite through repeated exposure(as well as affecting those in the production of the material), and seeing that this was used in items like crib toys and kitchen utensils, the Bakelite boom only lasted until around the 1950s-1960s when safer plastics were created.  Bakelite is still used in some industries today, but the household items are a thing of the past.

  I have been familiar with Bakelite almost as long as I've been familiar with celluloid, but it was only when I became interested in Art Deco and the 1930s did I want to add some pieces to my collection.  Of the vintage plastics, Bakelite and Catalin are the most popular and valuable, which means I haven't been able to afford many pieces, but the pieces I do own I treasure, and I will detail them in a coming post.


Further Research:
Wikipedia: Bakelite
Wikipedia: Catalin
Hexion: Bakelite-Resins (uses today)