Collar Choker Necklace Yellow Gold Black Enamel

From vibrant to subtle, elegant to cheeky, vintage and antique enamel jewelry and watches encompass a wide range of colors and styles, and there are almost as many techniques for creating these distinctive pieces.

Enameling is one of the oldest forms of surface decoration, used to add color to jewelry without having to rely on gemstones. Evidence of enameling goes back to ancient Greece. Throughout history, far-flung cultures favored different techniques. For example, cloisonné enamel was popular during the Byzantine Empire, while artisans living in France and Germany in the Middle Ages preferred champlevé. And Art Nouveau jewelry designers favored plique à jour.

At its core, enamel is the fusion of powdered glass to metal, and artists like enameling because it allows them to add a painterly or illustrative quality to their work.

Cloisonné (“cell” in French) is a technique in the creation of enamel jewelry that sees the use of thin wires of fine silver or gold to outline a design, which is then filled with enamel. The piece is subsequently placed in a kiln where the enamel is melted. Cloisonné is distinct because the individual wires remain visible, forming an outline of the motif.

Champlevé (“level field” in French) enamel is almost the opposite of cloisonné. In this technique, depressions in the metal are made by etching, engraving or chiseling, and then layers of enamel are built up until they rise slightly above the surface of the metal. The enamel is then fired and polished.

Guilloché is a technique in which translucent enamel is applied to a piece of metal that has had designs cut into it using a lathe. After the firing, the patterns on the metal become visible. Guilloché was made famous by Peter Carl Fabergé, whose jewelry house used the technique on many of its objets d’art as well as jewelry.

Find antique and vintage enamel rings, bracelets, necklaces and other accessories on 1stDibs.

Vintage choker necklaces are elegant, alluring and stylish. Cameos, pearls, diamonds and other stones can decorate these necklaces, which come in single or multiple strands. Whether it is a statement piece or a delicate chain, these short necklaces always stand out and turn heads.

The history of the choker can be traced back thousands of years, with Sumerian examples discovered from 2600–2500 B.C. They endured as a popular form of adornment through the centuries, and during the French Revolution they took on a symbolic significance. Women wore ribbons around their throats to mark the passing of those killed by the guillotine. Soon, the plain ribbons were adorned with small cameos and other ornamentation.

European choker necklaces gained a salacious reputation in the 19th century when prostitutes were associated with black ribbons tied around the neck, such as the model in Édouard Manet’s Olympia (1863). Queen Alexandra, Princess of Wales, reversed the trend in the late 19th century by wearing a large pearl and diamond choker, reputedly to hide a scar.

Fashioned from gold, pearls and other precious stones and metals, chokers continued to be worn into the 20th century, alternately statements of wealth and rebellion. They experienced periods of revival in the 1920s, ’40s, ’70s and ’90s for both men and women.

Vintage chokers make a statement with an unmistakable air of femininity. On 1stDibs, find an alluring collection of vintage chokers today, including gold, sapphire and emerald chokers.