If you are fond of vintage items, you dont have to depend entirely on your ancestors to acquire a few of these heirlooms. Heirloom-quality jewelry from the Victorian, Edwardian, art deco and other periods is now readily available. When you wish to gift a rare piece of jewelry to your beloved, choose a unique vintage item that she will preserve for the rest of her life. Antique jewelry, a term applied to jewelry over a hundred years old, is now a favorite with the prospective brides, too. With everything that is old now coming back into fashion, most brides walking down the aisle are adorning vintage jewelry with pride.

Among the jewelry pieces that you can pick up are antique engagement rings, studded necklaces, bracelets, brooches, crosses, pendants, lockets and other extraordinary pieces of timeless art and beauty.

These antique jewelry pieces come to you through antique jewelry auctions, fairs and sales that are frequented by the jewelers to bring you pieces of extraordinary charm and elegance. Some of the jewelers also specify the age of the antique jewelry on display. For instance, some may claim to keep pieces from 1900 to 1950 (Edwardian, art deco and retro jewelry), and some may have heirloom pieces that are at least two centuries old (late Georgian or Victorian jewelry)!

Shopping for antique jewelry has an added advantage. It acquaints you to the history and culture of the era to which it belongs. You would be interested to know how the fashion of wearing delicate dresses in the Georgian era favored the use of small, light jewelry. Pendants with miniature paintings of loved ones were also prevalent in the late-Georgian era. In a similar way, jewelry belonging to each era is a reflection of the changing fashions. So, with every piece of antique jewelry, you also buy memories of a long lost era.