Vintage Chanel Costume Jewellery: A History of the Maison's Most Collectible Pieces

Long before “demi-fine” became a marketing category, Gabrielle Chanel was doing something far more radical: she was telling women to wear costume jewellery — and to be proud of it.

In the 1920s, at a moment when fine jewellery was the only socially accepted adornment for a woman of means, Chanel draped her models in ropes of faux pearls, gilt chains, and coloured glass. It was a deliberate provocation. “It’s disgusting to walk around loaded with real stones,” she reportedly said — and, true to form, the provocation worked. Within a generation, costume jewellery had been elevated from trinket to art form, and Chanel was the reason why.

The Gripoix Atelier: Glass as High Art

No discussion of Chanel jewellery is complete without the Maison Gripoix. Founded in the 1870s by Lina Gripoix, the Parisian atelier became Chanel’s most trusted collaborator, producing the luminous poured glass (verre fondu) stones that remain among the most sought-after elements in vintage Chanel jewellery today.

The technique involves fusing molten coloured glass directly into open-backed gilt settings — the result has a depth and luminosity that no synthetic or cut stone can replicate. Colours shifted season to season: the jewel tones of the 1930s, the rich lapises and ambers of the 1970s and 1980s, the Byzantine golds of the Karl Lagerfeld era.

Our Chanel Autumn 1995 Large Gold Plated Gripoix Lapis Lazuli Clip-On Earrings are a masterclass in exactly this technique — substantial, deeply coloured, and unmistakably of the house.

The Clip Earring as Power Statement

Chanel’s clip earrings occupy their own chapter in fashion history. By the 1980s and into the 1990s — under Lagerfeld’s stewardship — they had become talismans of a particular kind of confidence: oversized, architectural, and designed to be seen across a room.

Our 1988 Chanel Tiger’s Eye Rhinestone Gold Plated Extra Large Clip Earrings date from precisely this golden period — bold enough to anchor an outfit, refined enough to pass muster at any occasion.

Baroque Pearls and the Hierarchy of the “Fake”

Chanel’s pearls deserve their own meditation. Where fine jewellers prized uniformity and lustre, Chanel leaned into irregularity — the baroque, the oversized, the layered. The effect was deliberately louche, deliberately luxurious, and entirely deliberate.

Our 1980s Chanel Baroque 24k Gold Crystal Pearl piece — marked as an investment piece in our collection — captures that philosophy at its most distilled. These are not accessories. They are arguments.

Collecting Vintage Chanel Jewellery: What to Look For

Provenance is everything with vintage Chanel. Key authentication markers include:

• Hallmarking: From 1984 onwards, pieces were consistently stamped with © CHANEL and a date code. Earlier pieces may carry only CHANEL or be unmarked.
• Gripoix glass: Look for depth and slight irregularity in the colour — poured glass glows rather than sparkles.
• Gilt quality: Authentic pieces have a warmth and weight that plated reproductions cannot match.
• Clip mechanism: Chanel favoured a specific padded clip style across decades — comfortable for extended wear and distinctively engineered.

The most collectible eras are the 1930s Maison originals, the 1960s–1970s Gripoix period, and the 1983–2004 Lagerfeld years.

A Note on Investment Value

Signed vintage Chanel jewellery has shown consistent appreciation at auction over the past decade. Pieces from the Lagerfeld era — particularly those with Gripoix glass, baroque pearls, or recognisable house motifs — regularly achieve multiples of their original retail price at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and specialist vintage houses.

Buying vintage is not simply a style decision. It is, increasingly, a considered one.