12/4/05 | Vintage Lucite Beads
We’ve been stocking up on various supplies for an upcoming jewelry and craft show and the other day we came across these amazing vintage lucite beads in shades of orange and red. The colors of these beads are super vibrant which is something that we look for occasionally to give some extra splash to designs.
Along with orange and red, they had a whole assortment of similarly vibrant different colors: blue, green, purple, pink, yellow, brown, and black/white. What is particularly cool about the lucite pieces is that many of them were chunkier pieces which is also something that we haven’t used much in designs up to this point. Some of the pieces remind me of old fashioned striped licorice or hard candy.
Lucite was actually popularized by DuPont in the 1930s as an alternative to the more expensive (and now famous) plastic called Bakelite. Looking on Wikipedia, the chemical name for the tradename Lucite is Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) . It started off being used for costume jewelry and in the 1950s became extremely popular in something called Jelly Belly Jewelry (I’m not familiar with this type of vintage jewelry). Their popularity continues to this day.
One thing about Lucite is that although it is more substantial than other plastic beads, it is surprisingly light in general. I just thought it might feel heavier. Therefore, even though vintage lucite is often cut in extremely chunky pieces they won’t weigh down a necklace made entirely of it. I didn’t know this but apparently most of the lucite beads are carved out of tubes of lucite as opposed to pressed in a mold like many other plastics or glass. This is actually a good thing because then there are no seams in the beads!
Because many of the lucite beads being sold today are actually vintage beads that aren’t currently being manufactured, they can be a bit difficult to find sometimes. Often, a new company will buy up the older jewelry stock from warehouses of companies that used to produce beads and findings, and the vintage lucite beads are included in the haul.
I believe they DO make reproductions of vintage beads, but you can usually tell the difference in the quality and workmanship. Another thing about vintage lucite is that it isn’t exactly cheap. This might be a reason to try to find reproductions of the styles of lucite beads that you like. Though, I tend to see more reproductions of vintage glass than vintage plastic at bead stores.
One of the best places you can find vintage beads are at jewelry trunk shows. Often, when a bead store has a sale (especially during the holidays) they’ll also get a representative from a small company or even an individual to set up a trunk show at a separate table or room at the store. The good thing about these trunk shows is that often the store sale prices extend to the trunk show items themselves which can help defray that extra cost of buying vintage beads.
December 6th, 2005 at 8:10 am
I am interested in obtaining red moonglow lucite beads. Thank you!
JJ’s Jazzy Jewelry, LLC
301.587.7676
January 2nd, 2006 at 12:54 pm
You may find a whole array of vintage moonglow lucite as well as numberous other varieties at our website www.beadinpath.com. You will see our description of “What is Vintage Lucite” on our lucite pages. Strangly familiar to the above comment posted 12/4/05. If you have any questions, or are looking for specific vintage lucite beads please contact us!
January 2nd, 2006 at 12:55 pm
I am interested in finding vintage lucite flowers and leaves any
ideas of where I can find them? Thank you!
January 2nd, 2006 at 2:02 pm
debra - that’s interesting too… we were at a bead trunk show and there was a handout titled “What is Vintage Lucite” that said exactly what is written on your site. But I paraphrased some of it for my post. Do you have people selling on the West coast (southern California)? also, I have been having to moderate all comments lately on this post because I’ve been getting a ton of them with just linkbacks that didn’t contribute anything else to the comment. I didn’t know vintage lucite was that popular…!
bella luna - well, you could probably start w/ debra’s site above…
January 6th, 2006 at 11:56 am
Hello~
Yes, we do have a west coast representative who does trunk shows as well as the larger bead shows. We will also be at the Whole Bead Show and Bead Renaisance Shows in Tucson, AZ in February.
Vintage Lucite is very popular on the east coast, as well as southern parts of the US. The Midwest is now catching on as well! Lucite works very well with stone or crystal for the parger chunky styles now seen in many fashion magazines. New right now, is many varieties of leaves and flowers in all colors for those who are getting their Spring Lines together. Please visit us at:
www.beadinpath.com
Thank you again for your comments~ Debra
January 21st, 2006 at 11:01 am
Our company used to be a wholesale manufacturer of costume jewelry. Now that the importers have put domestic manufacturing of finished goods out of business we are now selling our large selection of leftover stock on our website. Every day we are adding anywhere between 10 and 30 new styles so check back with us often. Each style is sold in 8 inch strands.
January 22nd, 2006 at 8:10 pm
In terms of the tucson show ..what other shows (besides the whole bead and renaissance shows) are must sees for funky, vintage PENDANTS and beads ..this year is my first trip to the wholesale shows and I want to use my time wisely…also anyone know where to find wholesale lucite or resin CROSS pendants?
April 18th, 2006 at 4:44 am
I am looking for plastic flowers non vintage but I NEED a wholesaler not a retailer. Can anyone ehlp me please.
May 3rd, 2007 at 10:26 pm
Did anyone ever reply last year to Jill (4-18-06) who’s looking for lucite/plastic flowers? I too have been looking for a wholesaler of new, yet vintage-style flowers. I have been monitoring Beadin’ Path.com (they say they wholesale in addition to retail) — however, there is not a large selection of different styles. E-bay sellers are getting these flowers from SOMEWHERE. Unfortunately, most of the E-bay pricing is retail — especially once shipping is added (such as sale an item for $.99 and charge $5.00 for shipping).
May 23rd, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Hi Carolyn,
Please visit us again! We now have 60+ styles and colors of flowers and leaves. Our lucite category page is here.
New colors and variations are added daily. In fact, 15 new colors will be joining our lucite garden next week! The easist way to check in on our latest lucite additions is via this link. We also special order custom colors.
I’m glad I checked back on my blog entry from last year. I love any bead input from any source and blogs can be some of the best!
Happy Beading!
~Debra
May 24th, 2007 at 8:18 am
I to am also looking for wholesale lucite flowers and leaves not only for myself but for my business as well and any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Murida
tmgbeads@aol.com
June 3rd, 2007 at 2:47 pm
I have always thought that resin was the proper name for “plastic” beads that are (1) vintage and (2) not clear or transparent. Is that true? Or are the two names interchangable?
June 28th, 2007 at 4:09 am
I am looking for wholesale lucite beads, flowers and leaves to buy in bulk. I am interested in all vintage styles not just lucite, any ideas?
Thanks
July 4th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Hi jewelry makers and bead sellers,
Thanks for all the responses on this post! I’m going to be closing the comments on the post, though, because we have started to get an unbelievable amount of junk spam through this page.