Bakelite Jewelry has been very popular since the 1930’s, 1940’s, 1950’s, 1960’s, and 1970’s. It was an inexpensive form of jewelry, colorful and fun.
When money was scarce during the Depression, people could afford this cheerful jewelry. Art Deco jewelers thought of Bakelite as an exciting new material. Bakelite jewelry combined with chrome had a Machine Age look.
It ceased being made by the 1970’s, and had a rebirth in the 1988 thanks to artist and flea market shopper Andy Warhol who started collecting carved Bakelite in the mid-1970s. He bought every piece he could find and accumulated a very large collection. After his death, his Bakelite collection sold at Sotheby New York in 1988. From that point on, interest for Bakelite, and prices soared.
With today’s fashion, Bakelite continues to grow in popularity.