For a lot of people, the words 'plastic' and 'jewelry' do not match. However, if you are a keen collector of Deco jewelry in Bakelite, the colorful cool jewelry is very stylish to have. Bakelite jewelry happens to be the ultimate in costume jewelry. It is put on to create an impact, to add to the outfit.



Instead of being rejected as it was for a lot of years, at present it is worn in the spirit of colorful fun as it was already planned to be. Besides, when you are on the look out for some amazing Bakelite jewelry, you would be able to come across a few genuine examples of amazing design work in the difficult to find pieces that have got themselves into the market segment exclusively for collectors.

Bakelite which is actually Phenolic Resin, used to be manufactured in carved sheets, tubes and rods by workers. Bakelite was created by Dr. Leo Bakeland. On July 13th in the year 1907, Dr. Leo Bakeland got hold of a patent for manufacturing Bakelite.

The requirements of Bakelite kept increasing rapidly and its utilization in various toys, household articles, electrical insulators, and games and not to forget the stunning pieces of jewelry made Bakelite an immediate sensation. The demand for Bakelite grew, but in the year 1942, Bakelite manufacturing came to an end.

During the 1930s and the early years of the 1940s, a huge amount of Bakelite jewelry was sold in all the departmental stores throughout United States of America. Top-notch designers like Channel, Arpel etc created stunning designs with Bakelite. This was the time that United States of America was in the midst of depression. On the other hand, the vibrant and long-lasting Bakelite objects were an immediate sensation with each and every one as the Bakelite objects and jewelry had an amazing range of colors.

At the same time, while replication is the greatest type of flattery, it is disappointing that there is a small scale cottage industry that has been busy in manufacturing of 'fakelite' products and jewelry. This 'fakelite' jewelry that is created in various parts of the world has the look of Bakelite.

How would you differentiate between genuine Bakelite and fake Bakelite? Well, there is something known as a Bakelite test. If you put the real Bakelite under a tap of running hot water you would be able to get an extremely intense odor and the majority of the pieces when wiped with a 409 household cleaner, would turn into a q-tip yellow.

If a true specialist would inspect it properly, he or she would know the difference between true vintage Bakelite and a fake one. Some fakelites are treated to pass the test of genuine Bakelite.