I am soooo confused!

[Dogaman]

Vintage, contemporary, antique, classic...what means what!

To me:

Antique and classic are pre WWII.
Vintage and Contemporary are post WWII.

Am I at least in the ball park?

[mart]

There is no hard fast timeline on anything except "antique" which is 100 years !!  But many change that to suit their needs !! In my mind antique is 75 to 100 years or before, vintage is 50 to 75 years, classic is just a descriptive term except for cars and means an old established design,,contemporary is after 1950 !!   But that's just me !! I have seen mid century furniture called antique !! Depends on who is doing the calling !!

[Ipcress]

I've always taken vintage as ' original ' or ' genuine '.

" A photograph of Marilyn Monroe " could have been printed / developed at any time.
" A vintage photograph of Marilyn Monroe " must have been printed / developed whilst she was alive


People on Ebay use it as fancy dress in their listings

[KC]

Join the confused club!!  LOL

Antique  100 years and over
Vintage 50 years up to 99
Just old anything 1 day to 49 years

The US Govt used the 1930 Smoot Hawley Tariff Act to start the definition of antiques and the US/IRS

It also depends on what you are talking about.

GUNS - generally guns prior to the 20th Century (muzzle-loading and cartridge)
or as the US Government  defines it in Title 18, Section 921(a)(16) of the US Code - the terminology "antique firearm" means:
   (A) any firearm (including any firearm with a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system) manufactured in or before 1898; and
   (B) any replica of any firearm described in subparagraph (A) if such replica -
      (i) is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition, or
      (ii) uses rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition which is no longer manufactured in the United States and which is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade."



AUTOMOBILES ARE ALSO DIFFERENT from furniture/items and are an exception to the rule.  Each state and their DMV have a different classification in order to get "antique car license plates".  Some states you have to have a car over 25 years old...and in some it is a car prior to 1956.  BUT THEN you get to motorcycles...and majority of states say it has to be over 30 years of age!
AND then you talk with the Classic Car Club of America and they state: The Classic Car Club of America defines a CCCA Classic as follows: A CCCA Classic is a "fine" or "distinctive" automobile, either American or foreign built, produced between 1925 and 1948. Other factors, including engine displacement, custom coachwork and luxury accessories, such as power brakes, power clutch, and "one-shot" or automatic lubrication systems, help determine whether a car is considered a Classic."

JEWELRY
Jewelry still follows under the 100 year and 50year guidelines.  HOWEVER, there is another term known as "Estate Jewelry".  Estate Jewelry is jewelry that has been previously owned AND it didn't have to be purchased at an estate sale!!!  So, items that fall under vintage can be Estate as well!

[greenacres]

http://www.antique-shop.com/forums/index.php?topic=14626.0  an old discussion we had in the talk section.

[Dogaman]

Okay, let's see if I can pin this down:

Antique is 100+. 1914 and earlier.
Vintage is 50 to 99. 1915 through 1964.
Contemporary is 01 to 49. 1965 through today.

Now, to throw another monkey wrench in the works: How do you classify something that is produced over a time span of several years? (Unlike automobiles, which have a specific model date/manufacturing year.) Do you automatically default to the first date that design was produced? Thus, an item physically produced in 1918, but with a pattern originally introduced in 1910, would automatically get an estimated age of 100+.

[Dogaman]

G-acres,

So, somewhere along the line, the term "vintage" has gone from being specific to wines to meaning one step younger than antique.  Like everything else, the English language is evolving.  Must be us 'baby boomers' that want to add a little 'value' to our lifetimes.

[greenacres]

  Maybe so!

[Ipcress]

Why is vintage 50-99 ?

And antiques can be younger than 100 years.

[mart]

Okay, let's see if I can pin this down:

Antique is 100+. 1914 and earlier.
Vintage is 50 to 99. 1915 through 1964.
Contemporary is 01 to 49. 1965 through today.

Now, to throw another monkey wrench in the works: How do you classify something that is produced over a time span of several years? (Unlike automobiles, which have a specific model date/manufacturing year.) Do you automatically default to the first date that design was produced? Thus, an item physically produced in 1918, but with a pattern originally introduced in 1910, would automatically get an estimated age of 100+.

That would depend on if there is a specific way to date it correctly !! Some mfrs have different marks that correspond to date made,,some don`t !! A time/ year difference is pretty much accepted without direct proof of date on glassware !! Many companies re-issued some patterns so your own evaluation is necessary. When you have looked at/examined enough of this stuff youy will get a feel for what is an early issue vs a later one !!

[Dogaman]

Thanks!

[Ipcress]

Okay, let's see if I can pin this down:

Antique is 100+. 1914 and earlier.
Vintage is 50 to 99. 1915 through 1964.
Contemporary is 01 to 49. 1965 through today.

Now, to throw another monkey wrench in the works: How do you classify something that is produced over a time span of several years? (Unlike automobiles, which have a specific model date/manufacturing year.) Do you automatically default to the first date that design was produced? Thus, an item physically produced in 1918, but with a pattern originally introduced in 1910, would automatically get an estimated age of 100+.

It was made in 1918.


This isn't difficult.

[icedgold10]

Why is vintage 50-99 ?

And antiques can be younger than 100 years.

Why can they be younger?  What do you consider antique?  Are antiques not judged by age in Europe? Here we tend to use age as a marker.

[Ipcress]

There's no written law.

Are you saying a late Edwardian bedroom suite is not antique because it might have been made in 1919 ? Or a George V wardrobe because it's not 100 years old ?

Without a date code or other identifying marks, how do you tell if something was 1906 or 1916 ?

As for ' vintage ', someone mentioned wine earlier. Well that's how i base my use of the word. I gave the Monroe photo example earlier. You could also use a 1930's car as ' vintage ' of it retained all or the majority of original parts from the period. Refurbished with 50% modern parts then it is no longer vintage.

I think wines are described as vintage when all or the majority of the grapes are from the same year. So a 1961 vintage Haut Brion was made with approx 85% of grapes grown in 1961 ( some countries demand a higher percentage, some lower )

[KC]

The U.S. and U.S.Govt define things much differently than other governments.  If memory serves correctly it was trying to pinpoint a definition for taxation value  and the IRS uses a FMV (Fair Market Value) and uses a category of Collectibles.