How can vulcanite be told apart from jet?

Vulcanite fades - well-preserved pieces today often show a brownish-green cast instead of the original deep black, especially along edges and on surfaces that were exposed to light. Genuine jet keeps its colour. Vulcanite also gives off a faint smell of rubber when rubbed; jet is odourless.

Why does vulcanite age so visibly?

The material reacts with UV light and oxygen. The sulphur cross-links in the rubber oxidise at the surface, producing the characteristic brownish-green patina. Anyone who owns a Victorian vulcanite piece should keep it dark and dry - full restoration is not possible.

Where was vulcanite mourning jewellery produced?

The main centre was Birmingham (England), with several large manufactories, alongside Connecticut (USA). English production supplied chiefly the domestic market and continental Europe; American production served the US mourning-jewellery market, which rose sharply after the Civil War of 1861–1865.

Vulcanite (Ebonite)

Vulcanite is hardened, black-dyed natural rubber - an industrial invention of the 1840s which found wide use in Victorian mourning jewellery as an inexpensive alternative to jet.

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