Curio Co.

Miriam Haskell jewellery is some of the most prized and beautiful costume jewellery from the 20th century. The intricate designs coupled with their novel colours and materials have ...

Miriam Haskell jewellery is some of the most prized and beautiful costume jewellery from the 20th century. The intricate designs coupled with their novel colours and materials have made Haskell jewellery hugely coveted by collectors, with the most elaborate pieces fetching many hundreds of pounds. Miriam began her fashion career in New York city working as a milliner but pivoted to jewellery in 1926 when she opened her first shop, named Le Bijou...

Dr. Leo Bakeland invented Bakelite in the early 1900s. Bakeland discovered that the material would cool quickly and wouldn’t melt, regardless of the temperatures. He took out a patent on the idea in 1907. The material was heated to a melting point and then poured into molds and sheets to create the different pieces. It was used for a number of things including toys and for electronics parts. The material was never meant to be expensive, but to give those without a lot of money access to quality pieces. Many companies stopped using Bakelite in the early 1940s as the need for World War II related products took hold. By the end of the War, new technologies in the world of plastics had made Bakelite obsolete. The height of Bakelite jewelry...

Miriam Haskell jewellery is some of the most prized and beautiful costume jewellery from the 20th century. The intricate designs coupled with their novel colours and materials have made Haskell jewellery hugely coveted by collectors, with the most elaborate pieces fetching many hundreds of pounds. Miriam began her fashion career in New York city working as a milliner but pivoted to jewellery in 1926 when she opened her first shop, named Le Bijou...

Miriam Haskell jewellery is some of the most prized and beautiful costume jewellery from the 20th century. The intricate designs coupled with their novel colours and materials have ...

Miriam Haskell jewellery is some of the most prized and beautiful costume jewellery from the 20th century. The intricate designs coupled with their novel colours and materials have ...

Miriam Haskell jewellery is some of the most prized and beautiful costume jewellery from the 20th century. The intricate designs coupled with their novel colours and materials have ...

The start of plastic jewellery was seen in the middle of the 19th century and it became very popular in the 1920's and 30's. Celluloid was the first quality of plastics which was used, then followed Bakelite and Catalin. The invention of Bakelite took place in 1909. Sometime later Catalin was produced. Catalin was easy for mass production and at the same time affordable. Du Pont is the pioneer in the field of Lucite and made it popular in the 1930’s as an alternative to Bakelite which was an expensive grade of plastic. Because of its versatility it became a popular choice for costume jewellery and became even more popular in 1950s for its Jelly Belly Jewellery...

The pastel shades of turquoise have endeared it to many great cultures of antiquity: it has adorned the rulers of Ancient Egypt, the Aztecs (and possibly other Pre-Columbian Mesoamer...

A truly stunning example of 1970's design, this custom ball gown from Oscar de la Renta is a true piece of fashion history! A gorgeous rich Burgundy wine colored crushed velvet, with...

A sea of teal, green, and clear glass seed beads are handstrung, strand after strand, and affixed on either side of a faceted crystal flower with teal and green enameled fixtures. Vendome was established as a subsidiary of Coro to manufacture a superior line of jewelry. The mark was used as early as 1944 on charm bracelets and faux pearl jewelry...

Bruatlist jewelery design is fully embodied in this 14k gold and ruby brooch, meticulously crafted by Walter Schleup in his Montreal studio. "Walter Schluep, who trained as a jewel...