Vintage Not Handmade, but Hands Required 

THE POTTI TEAM BLOG

There has been a festive mood on the Potti Team lately, due to the release of the UK-made Etsy promotional video. 

(Etsy users -> sign in to Etsy, and cut and paste:     
https://blog.etsy.com/uk/2014/06/12/customise-version-etsy-tv-ad/ )

Shop owners can have their own shop information added onto the end, and can then post the video on social media to be viewed by the public, who may know little about Etsy. Educating others about Etsy helps validate our individual shops.   I am excited that my teammates have access to such a professional and appealing advertisement, and I look forward to hearing the positive feedback that I believe will result from its dissemination.  My opinion of the video as it relates to me, however, is the feeling that something is missing.

This is not a new feeling for many vintage sellers on Etsy.  We sometimes feel that the Etsy marketplace is being tailored primarily for "handmade" shop owners, and the role of vintage sellers is progressively deemphasized.   This is by no means a competition - I love and respect my teammates who put countless hours into handcrafting their wares.  I want Etsy to treat them like royalty, because they deserve it. But we vintage sellers want to also feel that we have a secure place in Etsy's future.  We chose Etsy because we believe it is the best; we would like to know that the feeling is mutual. 

I can picture, however, a reasonable handcrafting shop owner being puzzled by my feelings, and especially by the suggestion that vintage sellers should have been included in the advertisement recently released.  A crafter does something.  A vintage seller does what - takes a photo of an old chair?  Where's the excitement in that? Where is the action in that?

To begin, acquiring vintage that is resalable is a treasure hunt. 

Auctions, thrift stores, antique malls, and even online buying requires time, effort, and vigilance.  Finding that perfect piece at a perfect price is sweet - and often quite exciting!!

Research is another exciting aspect of vintage selling - at least it is exciting to those of us who love to find that our latest purchase was a surprise treasure!!  Some knowledge is necessary to buy in the first place, but discovering that a piece is older than you may have suspected, or that it is a collector's item are both very rewarding!

The alignment of vintage with history is undeniable, and it serves to make both the items and history more interesting.  For example, the two world wars, with their specific requirements and rations influenced jewelry drastically.  After the Great Depression (October 1929), the opulent jewelry of the Art Deco period (flapper era) gave  way to pot metal with clear rhinestones.

 NostalgicRose

  When World War II began, there were needs for specific metals, and silver became more available, though not as inexpensive.  Consequently, the 1930s Art Deco pot metal jewelry has become collectible.  A piece   of pot metal jewelry with clear rhinestones might be undervalued, if a buyer/seller did not know to examine it for Art Deco characteristics. 

OurBoudoir

Other notable examples would be plastic jewelry, that is in fact Bakelite;

  

plastic cabochons that are actually collectible moonglow "stones";

GrandVintageFinery

  

JessesVintage

gold colored jewelry marked sterling silver that makes no sense without an understanding of vermeil. 

MargsMostlyVintage

With all of the differing companies the world over from which we still have surviving examples of myriad creative efforts - the possibilities are nearly endless!  No individual could know or comprehend it all (though Jesse and Debra come pretty close in my book)!  And that is just jewelry (from which I draw my examples, since I know it best).

The possibilities are so exciting that some individuals (and some obscure companies) have begun imitating vintage jewelry of value.  Vintage costume jewelry makers were striving for jewelry so inexpensive (compared to fine jewelry) that women could have different pieces for each "costume" or outfit.  The jewelry was not intended to survive for decades, but much of it was nonetheless that well made.  The very idea of duplicitous manufacturers imitating these pieces so many years later, due to their worth, would no doubt have been amusing to those vintage creators!  Fakes are by no means exclusive to jewelry, but can be seen throughout the vintage world, and require even more knowledge on the part of the collector or buyer (as well as seller) to detect.  (Does that qualify as espionage?)

An aspect of vintage buying and selling that I find especially exciting is cleaning. It is amazing the built-up dirt, discoloration, glue residue, and such that can adhere to vintage jewelry.  Leaving a patina on metal is all very well, but if you are dealing with dirty rhinestones, their condition is not even clear until they are clean.  I love to watch a piece clean up - often far beyond the expectations of others who have seen it (right, Chip underestimates me :) ). 

On the other hand, we have a number of pieces with clear rhinestones that Chip has photographed and that have consequently gone back into the drawers or jewelry boxes.  I can't stand to list pieces that just don't look good. I can put quite a bit of time into cleaning jewelry.  I cannot imagine it is the only vintage collectible requiring extensive cleaning.  And while cleaning is not exciting, it is activity. Of a sort. 

The bottom line?  It is not fair to compare vintage with handmade.    Please Etsy, just let us coexist!  

Michele Davidson    

                                          

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