Seaman Schepps Turbo
Vintage 1970s American Modern Clip-on Earrings
Amethyst, 14k Gold
Vintage 1970s American Modern Clip-on Earrings
14k Gold
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Sapphire, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
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Lapis Lazuli, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
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Carnelian, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
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Ruby, Sapphire, Gold
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Ruby, Sapphire, Gold
Vintage 1960s American Clip-on Earrings
Ruby, 14k Gold
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Diamond, Ruby, White Gold, 18k Gold
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Coral, Gold, Yellow Gold
20th Century American Modern Link Bracelets
Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s Thai Contemporary Fashion Rings
Blue Sapphire, Turquoise, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
Vintage 1960s French Modernist Brooches
Diamond, 18k Gold, Gold
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Diamond, Platinum
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Lapis Lazuli, White Diamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
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Diamond, Onyx, 18k Gold
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Coral, 18k Gold
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Diamond, Jade, Ruby, Gold, Enamel, 18k Gold
Early 2000s American Beaded Bracelets
Coral, Yellow Gold, 18k Gold
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South Sea Pearl, Turquoise, 18k Gold
Vintage 1960s American Link Bracelets
Lapis Lazuli, Turquoise, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
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Turquoise, Yellow Gold, 14k Gold
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Diamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Recent Sales
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Turquoise, Gold
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Turquoise, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
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Turquoise, 14k Gold
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Pearl, Yellow Gold
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Ruby, 18k Gold
Early 2000s American Clip-on Earrings
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Coral, Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
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Sapphire, Yellow Gold, 18k Gold
1990s Stud Earrings
Diamond, Ruby, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
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Ruby, 18k Gold
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Cultured Pearl, 18k Gold
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Emerald, Sapphire, 18k Gold
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Coral, 18k Gold
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Pearl, Turquoise, 18k Gold
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Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold
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Crystal, Rock Crystal, Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
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Lapis Lazuli, 14k Gold
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Sapphire, Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
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Citrine, 18k Gold
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Citrine, 18k Gold
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Emerald, 18k Gold, White Gold
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Ruby, 14k Gold
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Diamond, Topaz, 18k Gold, White Gold
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Sapphire, 18k Gold
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Lapis Lazuli, Gold, 18k Gold
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Coral, Turquoise, 14k Gold
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Turquoise, 18k Gold
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Seaman Schepps Turbo For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Seaman Schepps Turbo?
Seaman Schepps for sale on 1stDibs
A scrappy, self-made artist who transformed turbo shells into decadent earrings and crystal chessmen into bold bracelets, Seaman Schepps (1881–1972) tirelessly worked his way up from the tenements of New York’s Lower East Side to become “America’s Court Jeweler.”
Born to immigrant parents who named him for the Seamen’s Bank for Savings that his mother could see from the hospital — or so the legend goes — Schepps dropped out of school at the age of 14 and never had any formal jewelry training. He later moved to California, where he opened his first jewelry shop in 1904. In 1921, he returned to New York to build on the success he’d begun to enjoy as a jeweler on the West Coast, but it wasn’t long before his Manhattan house, which counted Broadway stars and theater patrons among its clientele, was hit hard by the stock market crash of 1929. Schepps used this disruption to rethink his approach to jewelry, debuting a new store in 1934 on Madison Avenue, where he would make his mark in playful custom adornments.
While many high-end jewelers of his era focused on the purest and most valuable gemstones, Schepps chose his materials for their color and shape, elevating flawed stones others disregarded in collage-like formations involving unconventional materials such as fine wood, coral, seashells and flea-market finds. Passersby of his New York City shop could find a frog-shaped brooch carved from rosewood, a vintage snuff bottle broken into links for a bracelet and loose-drilled pearls plugged with diamonds. Schepps’s whimsical pieces found fans in fashion icons who appreciated his unique statements, including Doris Duke, Andy Warhol and the Duchess of Windsor.
Following Schepps’s death in 1972, his daughter, jewelry designer Patricia S. Vaill, ran the jewelry house for two decades before it was taken over by Jay Bauer and Anthony Hopenhajm of Trianon jewelry. Following the closure of the company’s Park Avenue store in November 2020, sales for Seaman Schepps is now based in its boutique location out of Palm Beach, Florida, where the legendary brand carries forth its founder’s spirited designs.
On 1stDibs, find a distinctive collection of vintage Seaman Schepps jewelry, including brooches, bracelets and other accessories.
Finding the Right Earrings for You
In the United States, ear piercing didn’t really become popular until the 1950s and ‘60s, but our desire for a dazzling pair of vintage earrings has deeper roots than that. In fact, wearing earrings actually goes back thousands of years, and you can find many tangible connections between now and then in how we continue to talk about these treasured accessories.
Women wore ornamental earrings — studs and hoops at the very least — in Ancient Egypt, which is home to mines that are among the earliest sources of emeralds in the world. Emerald earrings are highly prized today, and their quality lies in their rich, saturated color. The highest-quality emeralds are green or bluish-green. Earrings worn by the affluent in early Roman civilizations were set with precious stones such as diamonds and pearls, and a clean-looking pop of pearl on the front of the lobe is as timeless as ever. Hoop earrings are imbued with symbolism and cultural significance for many, and on view in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Ancient Near Eastern Art Gallery is a pair of simple gold hoops from Mesopotamia dating to between 2600 and 2500 B.C.
Today, ear piercing is very popular all over the world, and, as a result, it is difficult to overstate how much everyone pines for a good pair of earrings — modernist drop earrings, glamorous Victorian hoops, geometrically complex chandelier earrings, you name it. Sure, jewelry trends and the fashion darlings of social media come and go, but earrings have a staying power that seems impenetrable: The still-strong love affair between British royals and Cartier earrings is more than a century old, glossy 1970s hoops from legacy houses such as Bulgari and Van Cleef & Arpels remain the statement makers they’ve always been and although people have been stacking earrings for many moons, the allure of an expertly mismatched stack of charms and studs still feels fresh and new.
While there is no shortage of modern earring designs to choose from, the classics, like coral earrings, Art Deco–style earrings and diamond drop earrings are still heavy hitters. On 1stDibs, find a wide range of antique, new and vintage earrings today.