Vintage Brooches

(from 1950 to 2000)

Brooches are pieces of jewellery that have accompanied mankind for a long time and have evolved from a practical garment clasp to a purely decorative object. Vintage brooches also underwent an intensive transformation in the 20th century, producing different styles and appearances depending on the decade. Find out more

Find your favourite vintage brooch

After brooches went beyond their pure functionality to become a decorative stylistic device, there were numerous design possibilities for goldsmiths and jewellery designers. However, the traditional use of brooches as a badge of honour or medal remained constant.

With a vintage brooch, you acquire a real classic that emphasises your own personality and turns a simple outfit into something very special. The placement of the piece of jewellery is entirely up to you. Classic on the lapel or individually positioned on a hat, scarf or bag, a vintage brooch always makes for an interesting eye-catcher!

Vintage brooches from the 50s

The post-war years were characterised by the reconstruction and a significant change in the image and role of women. From 1948, the so-called New Look emerged, which reached its peak in the 1950s with cheerfully swinging wide skirts and fitted dresses. Jewellery was also very popular at this time in the form of earrings, necklaces, pendants and brooches, which were produced in imaginative designs.

Luxurious materials such as yellow gold and diamonds were popular, meaning that vintage brooches from the Fifties were often particularly expensive and made in solid designs.

60s brooches: unusual and experimental

Even in the 1960s, brooches were an integral part of day and evening wear and enjoyed great popularity. Influenced by contemporary art, high-contrast designs with unusual textures were created, set with diamonds, precious stones and large cultured pearls. Flowers, animal and nature motifs were particularly popular, as were technical subjects such as rockets, which fitted in wonderfully with the changing style of the time.

Versatile brooches from the 70s

In the 1970s, traditional trends were combined with modern influences, which led to versatile and bold designs in jewellery. There was little room for understatement in the wild seventies. Large jewellery items with a statement character were therefore particularly in demand. The preference for bold colours was carried over from the 1960s and was reflected in the use of coral, turquoise and malachite.

However, timelessly elegant genuine jewellery continued to be highly valued. Precious materials such as diamonds, yellow and white gold and colourful gemstones were used to create opulent vintage brooches in the cocktail style, with floral patterns and eye-catching bouquets of flowers taking centre stage.

The brooches of the time also usually had safety sliders that allowed them to be fastened particularly securely to clothing.

Vintage brooches from the late 20th century

The vintage brooch of the 80s had to be wearable in order to reflect the emancipated, active lifestyle of the wearer. However, they also had to make a statement, as the role of women had changed from a delicate, feminine aesthetic to the androgynous, self-determined power woman.

The yuppie look characterised by Wall Street also led to an increase in the wearing of coats and jackets, which provided the perfect stage for brooches. Brooches were often worn to perfectly match the large clip-on earrings of the 80s.

In the 1990s, the popularity of brooches slowly declined and people turned their attention to wearing other types of jewellery.

Vintage jewellery at the Halsbandaffaire

Halsbandaffaire is your contact for vintage jewellery: Visit us in our shop in Munich or browse through our range online. We will be happy to advise you on site, by email or over the phone and answer any questions you may have about our jewellery selection.