“Collecting Art Plastic Jewelry: Identification and Price Guide” by Leigh Leshner is informative for the novice as well as seasoned collector. The author seems to convey a keen balance between old and new plastics to give the reader ample knowledge of both. I particularly liked the price guide; it is a good gauge for individuals new to the market. I thought the photos were very well done. Thank you, Leigh.
Rating: 4 / 5

If you are like most plastic jewelry collectors, you are tempted to snap up every new book on the subject that comes along. With such a pretty cover, this book looks promising. It doesn’t deliver.
The first problem is that the author clearly does not know much about her subject. Most of the information she presents in the very slim section of the book which includes any writing at all is nothing more than a re-hash of information presented in Karima Parry’s “Bakelite Bangles Price and Identification Guide” and Parry’s “Bakelite Pins”. In terms of identifying vintage plastics by testing, the author doesn’t mention the commonly used chemical testing methods, but she carefully describes the notoriously destructive (and frowned upon by collectors) “hot pin test” which permanently damages the piece being tested.
The author clearly doesn’t know much about Bakelite, as on pages 124, 137, 149, and 179 she shows pictures of bangles which she identifies as Bakelite which are either modern “Fakelite” or as on page 179 at the top; hard plastic.
The color pictures are enormous. Since none of the captions include measurements, collectors have no clue that the piece they are looking at may in reality be the size of a quarter instead of the size of a dinner plate. The few rarer pieces in the book which a collector might want to get good look at are often shown very small, while common unremarkable pieces are often given an entire page all their own.
But the biggest problem in this book is organization. There isn’t any! After a short written section, the reader is treated to 200+ more pages of huge colored photos of jewelry, which is not arranged in any way that would make the book useful as a reference. The jewelry is not sorted by type or period or composition. Instead, the book resembles a haphazard collection of relatively unremarkable pieces shown in no particular order. Costume jewelry, Bakelite, Lucite, Celluloid, pins, beads, bangles, necklaces, earrings, etc. are shown, but in a hopeless jumble. Yes, there is an Index at the end of the book, but who wants to constantly pick their way through it to try to find what they are looking for? Without an organized presentation, this book is very inconvenient to use. If, for example a reader is looking to research pieces made of Lucite, they will find them sprinkled throughout the entire book, instead of arranged in a single chapter.
Although this book calls itself an “Identification and Price Guide”, the author mis-identifies quite a few pieces besides the Bakelite, and the pricing is either out of date or has little basis in reality. There is no guidance for the collector whatsoever, as the author does not discuss any specific piece, or give the reader any information as to its quality, condition, age, rarity, or desirability, and how those affect the value.
A few pages of “Modern Designers” are shown, but with no discussion whatsoever. Too bad, as these are some of the most interesting pieces in the book.
It isn’t difficult to spot vintage jewelry that is either made of plastic or includes plastic in it’s composition. What collectors and dealers are thirsty for is information and expert guidance. In this book, Ms. Leshner does little to demonstrate that she knows much about plastic jewelry, and this disorganized picture book is of little use to a collector or dealer.
Rating: 1 / 5