Compacts

For decades, a woman didn’t leave the house without a compact to take a peek her reflection, then dab and touch up her look if necessary. In the earlier days, compacts were almost solely used for powder, which was milled and compressed into an easy-to-carry form.

Today, compacts are multifaceted beauty tools, housing everything from cream-based cover-ups to specially formulated blush. Often as ornate and beautiful as they are functional, compacts have become valuable collectibles.

Some of the most common vintage compacts are mid-century creations, made from base metals or constructed like costume jewelry. Highly valuable pieces were commissioned by wealthy society ladies, who tapped jewelers like Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, and Tiffany to handcraft them from silver, gold, or platinum These compacts are sometimes enameled or lacquered and studded with precious or semi-precious stones and may be engraved with the owner’s initials.

Quick Facts

• Compacts date back to the Edwardian era, a time when wearing makeup was not yet socially acceptable. Powder cases were secretly hidden inside of necklaces, hatpins, and walking sticks
• In a 2012 Christie’s auction in New York, a Van Cleef & Arpels rectangular textured gold compact with a calibré-cut ruby and sculpted gold clasp sold for $5,625
• In 2011, an 18K gold and enamel Deco compact by Cartier in 1925 went under the hammer at Christie's, selling for €6,875