“For me there is nothing more beautiful, more interesting and more tactile than vintage jewellery,” says Michael Rose, founder of the eponymous jewellery shops in the Burlington Arcade. 

This quotation stayed with me for a while after I interviewed Michael recently, I think because one of the things I wanted to understand from him was what makes vintage jewellery different, and those three adjectives seemed to sum it up. 

Vintage jewellery is more likely to be made by hand, either cut or shaped or simply assembled in someone’s hands, and this creates surfaces with natural texture, as well as more variation between parts of the piece. 

A vintage or antique chain like my one we discussed recently for example, will often have links that have been individually cut. And even if they haven’t been, assembling each pre-cut piece will introduce small differences in the shapes.

About halfway through our interview, a woman came into the store with an old Victorian cocktail ring she was interested in exchanging. Cocktail rings are larger, slightly flashy pieces of jewellery that would have been worn only for such events, and the woman said she just never wore it any more (example above). She was interested in exchanging it for something more everyday. 

“Come and look at this,” said Michael, positioning his loupe over the ring and becoming me forward. “Each of those diamonds has been faceted by hand,” he continued, as I looked through. “It was probably done in India – most of it was a century ago – and they would have been told just to cut it at any angle in order to catch the light.”

This hand faceting isn’t the most efficient for refractions through the stone, certainly compared to modern methods, but you could see how it made each diamond different. I think most people would prefer the more efficient method, but I can also imagine some PS readers loving the individual character of the piece, and the connection to an artisan. 

Beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder, but you can see how vintage jewellery could be considered more interesting.

My chain’s primary point of interest is the fact it’s a ‘mystery chain’ where steel links are used inside the gold to make it stronger (above). Again, I can see how some people would love this detail, and others would prefer pure gold. But either way it’s interesting. 

“We were working class growing up and we never had much in the way of jewellery,” Michael told me. “But I remember the first piece my mother fell in love with was a muff chain, like yours. It was 60 inches long so she wound it round her head several times, which I told her looked a little silly.

“But we cut it down and it suited her very well then. I still have it upstairs in the shop – I have a box with all her pieces I’ve kept. So I guess that kind of chain has a special significance for me.”

Michael’s first job in the jewellery business was at Beaverbrooks, which only sold new pieces. It was through this connection that he was able to secure the Victorian muff chain for his mother, however, and began his passion for jewellery of all types.”

“In the 1980s I remember everyone was coming in to sell their old silver – no one could be bothered to polish it any more, and it was seen as almost worthless. Today it’s more valued, but there’s less of it around. 

“Gold is even worse. Britain stopped making jewellery like this in the 1950s, so there’s a finite supply and it’s getting smaller all the time. Italy continued on into the 1970s, but then that stopped too. They’re still a big player, but it’s not the same quality as the vintage pieces.”

Of course, added to this is the economic turmoil of the past couple of years, which has driven the price of gold sky high. “The price has been rising for almost 20 years, but recently it’s gone crazy,” Michael added. 

Over the years, he’s also seen many fashions come and go. “The fashion for pink gold, rose gold, lasts about seven or eight years each time – everyone’s pushing it, all the brands, and then all of a sudden it’s gone. You see these young women coming in who have heavily bought into it, and now they’re trying to sell it all off,” says Michael. 

He’s also very much of the opinion that coloured metals and stones only suit certain skin types. Yellow diamonds, for example, might be a trend, but just as importantly they don’t suit paler, whiter skin tones. “Do white English women wear much yellow? Usually not. Maybe a swimsuit or something, but not in something bigger all the time. It often doesn’t suit them.”

Michael also told a nice story about chasing a customer down the Arcade, finally catching up with him outside The Ritz, after he had bought a yellow-diamond engagement ring (example below) for his wife. His wife was pale-skinned and a member of staff had sold him the ring without Michael being present. 

“I told him I couldn’t in good conscience sell him the ring, and asked to have it back,” Michael says. “He let me, and came back to get something else.”

In some ways, of course, this is a good long-term tactic – you never trust a salesman more than when he refuses to make a sale – and so good marketing. But Michael has been around so long, and seems to care so little for what sounds good, that you definitely believe him. 

Michael’s more general advice for buying jewellery includes:

• Buy something you like personally, that you feel a connection to (“I like brooches, but they haven’t been fashionable for a while”) 
• Buy one good piece rather than two or three cheaper ones (“I see the appeal of layering jewellery, but one good piece is more elegant and will be in style for longer”)
• Avoid French chains (“so flat”)
• Avoid black stones (“not that tasteful”)

A slightly random selection of advice, and of course some of it contradictory in a way (get something you like, but these kinds of things I like). But all keenly felt, with a passion for the beauty of these old pieces. 

And the best thing of all, as with all the craft-centred stores we do, is that it makes me feel more connected to my chain and pieces like it.