Lost in Translation: What is Vintage?

Last summer I wandered into a local "vintage" store to check out the styles and what type of jewelry they might carry. I had a lead from a friend that the owner might consider selling some of my designs. I left a few samples and came back a few weeks later. She had sold a piece or two and asked if I'd consider designing a line for the holidays. Would I! Yes!


So I got to work on a vintage line. Let me ask you, when you think about vintage what comes to mind? For me (and jewelry) I think of Art Deco, Art Nouveau, or simply the 1940s-50s. 
I decided to use marcasite as a main element as it was very common during WWII. Diamonds were being used in military manufacturing.  Not only is a diamond the hardest substance known, it also has the highest thermal conductivity; tremendous heat can pass through it without causing damage. So women gave up their diamonds and started wearing marcasite because it gave a similar diamond sparkle. I also used colors that I thought represented a vintage look such as olive green (jade), cocoa brown (smoky quartz), eggshell white (pearls) and black (onyx).  I used large focals on the necklaces, and plenty of dangle on the earrings.

When I returned with samples her response was "my clientele is really more 60s, do you have anything more like this?" as she pointed to a 'groovy' multi-strand, beaded get up .... wow, didn't see that coming.  Especially when you look at how she positions her store called Vintage Virtuosa.  We agreed that she would look through my Etsy site and give me a call with items she wanted me to bring in.  She never called.  No surprise there.


So my question is ... what is vintage?  I looked it up and the best I got was from wikipedia. Vintage (for clothing) usually refers to 1920s up to 1960 and has been worn by someone. Retro are those items made to imitate a previous style. So while I feel I was right with my understanding of the word vintage ... it didn't really help in delivering a sale with this store owner. Sigh.  


Materials
Bracelet (top): marcasite slide clasp, Miyuki seed beads
Earrings: marcasite triple connector, onyx, silver chain, silver leverbacks
Necklace (left): jade, hematite, marcasite, emerald quartz, vintage loop toggle
Bracelet (center): onyx, pearls, chalcedony, silver spacers, pearl slide clasp
Necklace (right): smoky quartz, tiny pearl chip spacers, Chinese enamel, vermeil toggle