‘Lovely little things’: materiality, value, and distinction in the cross-cultural consumption of vintage costume jewellery in modern China

In the last decade, vintage fashion has become a trend in both Western countries and China. While many studies have focused on the consumption of vintage goods in a Western context, little attention has been paid to the investigation of vintage product consumption in a cross-cultural context. This research utilizes vintage costume jewellery (VCJ) from the West as research objects to explore the operational mechanisms of cross-cultural consumption of VCJ in China and explains the reasons for the timing of the emergence of the VCJ market in China. This research, based on qualitative methods, primarily 41 semi-structured interviews and object interviews with manufacturers in the US (New York City, Florida) and with traders and consumers in China (Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Tianjin, Ningbo), explores how three main participants understand, translate, and create the value of VCJ. The findings show that Chinese consumers and traders are predominantly middle class women. VCJ consumers distinguish themselves by purchasing niche products recognisable only by a select group, mobilising cultural capital for distinction. Chinese traders serve as cultural intermediaries, acting as filters to introduce VCJ jewellery that aligns with their taste to the Chinese market. American manufacturers have continued local small-scale handcrafted production for centuries and decades, especially in the face of modern global outsourcing that offers low-cost labour advantages. Through their appreciation, selection, and production of VCJ, consumers, traders, and manufacturers demonstrate a cultural resonance of authenticity and value. The mutual recognition of the historical depth and craft aesthetics represented by VCJ connects consumers, traders, and manufacturers, forming a cross-cultural consumption. Furthermore, by linking these findings with the economic and social changes in China over the past forty years, as well as the context of globalisation, this study reveals that the emergence of the VCJ market is related to how consumers, traders, and manufacturers respond to broader cultural and social changes.