Vintage jewellery that once ended up in the melting pot is undergoing a revival, thanks to the trend for stacking rings, layering chains and creating “neck messes”. A neck mess, despite its name, is a carefully curated combo of chains and pendants. “It’s a beautiful look,” says Cherylann Erkelens, owner of PS It’s Vintage.
“You put it together yourself. It’s sustainable, because you’re not out shopping for new jewellery, and you’re stacking it differently every day. “Young people are adding on charms and brooches — sometimes the craziest looking stuff — and mixing metals.
” PS It’s Vintage is an online shop ( psitsvintage.co.uk) based in Co Armagh.
Erkelens also sells at vintage fairs, including The National Antique Fair at Limerick Racecourse on November 16 and 17. Necklace from PS It's Vintage “People like to hear the backstory,” she says. “My older pieces are always a topic of conversation.
” She’s currently wearing an antique rose-gold diamond ring (£1,095/€1,300). “It’s about 150 years old and it might hurt me a little bit to sell it,” Erkelens confesses. She wonders what kind of woman wore it.
“Jewellery was expensive back then. It’s not a huge diamond but the cost then must have been staggering.” Read more Gold jewellery is currently expensive because of the price of the metal, but silver is more accessible.
Silver rings from PS It’s Vintage rings from £17/€20 to £35/€42 and necklaces can cost up to £300.