Words of the Week
What is Fakelite?
fakelite
This is a term for Faux bakelite which is a modern, mass produced product, neither true bakelite nor vintage. It is sometimes also referred to as French Bakelite, although French Bakelite is often called such.
The term seems to have first appeared in the mid to late 1980s when old bakelite pieces were being reworked into jewelry pieces and made to imitate vintage bakelite. The content of these was genuine, but the age of the piece was not. However, the term now refers to modern mass produced items which are intentionally being represented as genuine bakelite.
The true bakelite era in vintage jewelry was roughly the years between the two world wars. Collectors should be particularly aware that items being sold as vintage bakelite may be the genuine article, a reworked piece, modern French Bakelite, or modern, mass produced items intended to defraud. As always, buyer beware!
For more information on vintage bakelite, please refer to our detailed article resource article on bakelite and catalin identification and testing methods.
Examples of Fakelite:
|
|
|
|
To view other articles on other vintage words, please visit the word of the week archives.
