Antique, Vintage, Retro, New ?

Debates can go on for years about what charms can be classified as
antique, vintage, retro and modern. It seems every collector has a
slightly different view so I’m willing to be flexible -feel free to correct
me. eBay terms vintage as anything made before the 1980’s and anything
after that as modern. t
The eBay charm group (surely the best amalgamation of vintage charm
collectors, buyers, sellers and experts presently in existence, headed by
the amazing gelatogrrl- queen of all charmers) says that antique is
before 1900. Then there are the antique charms that were reproduced in
the 1920-40’s making them technically vintage charms that look like
antique charms, and the vintage charms that have rhodium plating so they
look more like modern charms even though they were made in the 1950-60’s.
Does everyone have a headache yet? Just think how tough it’s going to
be for charm collectors in 2525 to figure out. They’ll also have the
problem of Juicy Couture, Silver Confetti and other modern charms of
good quality and great design that we snobby vintage charm noses presently
ignore due to their newness. A few centuries from now the difference
of a decade or two will probably not matter as much as we think now. In
the meantime we all have to deal with what we are willing to pay and
how to tell we aren’t being ripped off. To be honest I never buy Puffy
Heart charms because I’m just too stupid to be sure I can tell real from
repro. I try to learn, see, feel, and absorb everything I can about
vintage charms. In the end however, I buy what I love and hope for the
best.