The latest Depression-era item to turn ”collectible” is Bakelite jewelry, which may be worth 100 times what it cost in the 1930s. Bakelite costume jewelry that sold for anywhere from a few cents to a ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I cover upmarket jewelry, timepieces & ethical, sustainable jewelry.

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts. Bakelite jewelry was one of the only affordable accessories for women ...

Made of a combination of phenol and formaldehyde, Bakelite is a type of plastic that became popular during the 1930s and 40s as a material not only for jewelry, but for other consumer goods like ...

Created more than a century ago, bakelite is a completely synthetic plastic material used in industrial and commercial products. Because it doesn’t contain petroleum, it can’t be melted or recycled.

Gem features one standout piece from a local shop. Whether it’s a jacket, necklace, or handbag, it’s on our have-to-have list. What: Bakelite was one of the first synthetic plastics, used originally ...

A new class of Bakelite collectors is emerging, and it’s hardly the swap-meet set. The spoils: a bangle or three with inlaid geometrics, perhaps a marbled ring with bursts of bezel-set gemstones. That ...

I bought a wooden night table at an auction years ago. It’s a 1950s style, but the finish is reddish brown, not blond. The single drawer in the stand is marked “Heywood-Wakefield” within a circle.

For plastics aficionados and others, the movie you’ve been waiting for arrives next month. It tells the story of Leo Baekeland, who in 1907 changed the world forever. Baekeland was a Belgian-American ...

When Leo Hendrik Baekeland invented Bakelite in 1907, he changed the world — ushering in the Age of Plastics and transforming the way people lived. The phenolic resin took off first as a superior, ...