Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
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Item Ships From: Berkshires
CoutureChanel Antique Byzantine ThePurpleHeart PearlAmethystQuartz GoldMedallion
By Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
During the ArtDeco period when Gabriel "Coco" Chanel was at her peak as a Parisian couture fashion-designer in the early 1930s, this antique one-of-a-kind handcrafted gem-fringed and gilt-chain medallion brooch with trombone clasp was commissioned to accessorize one of her clothing designs. Marked only "FRANCE" like some early 1930s Chanel couture jewelry (without a brand stamp until the 1950s), its artistic origin is most likely from ornate organic-form sketches by her favorite parurer Fulco di Verdura. The Sicilian duke began creating fabric patterns for Chanel in 1927, which shortly expanded to fine jewelry beginning with custom pieces for herself. These include the iconic Byzantine-influenced gem-adorned cuffs referencing the Maltese military-cross, which the French designer can often be seen wearing in circa-1930s photos.
This bright yellow-gold brooch suits goldsmith Verdura's early anti-Art-Deco aesthetic that was considered a radical departure from 1920s silver-tone jewelry, which otherwise featured linear geometric designs or figurative representation. The softly-shaped deconstructed gem-bouquet mixes amethyst and rose-quartz beads with natural Keshi pearls and intricate tiny gilt leaves, which are wired to a Baroque-motif open-work frame that dangles another gem surrounded by a thick gilt-rope halo. Notably, Verdura is credited with re-introducing since Victorian times the rope motif to jewelry.
Since 1930, Verdura's unique style was influenced by travels with Chanel to explore Byzantine art, Baroque architecture, and exotic flora-and-fauna among his native Italian aristocratic estate. The legendary fashion-editor Diane Vreeland and American entertainment-stars were among the first Chanel clients to acquire couture real-gem-adorned jewelry made by Verdura, while one of the two brooches treasured by Vreeland was titled "Theodora". See our photo of the Byzantine mosaic of Empress Theodora, whose image wearing many teardrop pearls above her chest and surrounded by a golden halo seems to be the inspiration for this brooch.
As one of the most important modern-design collaborations, Chanel's close relationship with Verdura lasted largely-undocumented years in Paris, until he launched his first outside jewelry venture with a Hollywood designer-boutique after emigrating to the United States in 1934. By 1939 as a financially-backed in-demand goldsmith, he founded the namesake jewelry-company Verdura in NYC. After he retired in 1973, the brand continued to operate without him with different owners.
Given the duo's designs that played with historic and military references, Chanel's couture commission for this purple medallion may have been sparked in the early 1930s when the internationally-new...
Category
1930s French Byzantine Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Amethyst, Pearl, Quartz, Gold, Gilt Metal, Yellow Gold
1938 ElsaSchiaparelli CouturePagan DeposeFrance FeatherCrystalGold Bird Brooch
By Elsa Schiaparelli
Located in Chicago, IL
Unusually decorated with small partridge feathers like the yellow-gold gilt necklace commissioned by Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) that is featured on the front-and-back covers and centerfold of the French costume-jewelry hardcover book, Lina Baretti Parures, by Patrick Mauries, this unique pave-crystal yellow-gold gilt metal partridge-on-a-branch brooch is further distinguished as an unsigned Parisian-couture piece for Italian-born Schiaparelli with its combination of embossed text "Made In France" and "Modele Depose", along with the trombone clasp often used in the early 20th Century for custom-made French small brooches.
The book centerfold on pages 90-91 shows a closeup of the feathered necklace created by French-born Corsican Baretti, whose intricate decoration often mixed ready-made textural or shiny materials like velvet, cork, wire, rhodoid or raffia with custom-made metal, plastic or glass by specialized Parisian workshops such as Gripoix. The Baretti-book caption about the attributed necklace notes: "Collier realise pour Elsa Schiaparelli. Liege, soie, cannetille, perles de verre et plumes de perdix. Chaine en metal." While none of the captions date this necklace--which could have been from the same commission as our brooch--Baretti created one-of-a-kind jewelry for Schiaparelli from the 1930s until the early 1950s when the fashion designer retired.
Our brooch was most likely made for a fashion-show debut of one of Schiaparelli's themed clothing collections in the late 1930s for which she commissioned many costume-jewelry paruriers including Baretti. See our photo of a Schiaparelli 1930s...
Category
1930s French Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Gold, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
Modernist BertoiaStyle Kinetic Silver 8Bead SpiralWire 3Band Asymmetric MensRing
Located in Chicago, IL
Recalling some early-mid-century modernist one-of-a-kind unsigned silver jewelry featuring delicate kinetic parts, tiny forged balls and thin-wire work by American metal-worker Harry...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Modernist Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Silver
Couture Montague 1950s French WiredGlassBeads CrystalEnameledRondelles Earrings
By Francoise Montague
Located in Chicago, IL
In the 1950s while he operated an eponymous Parisian couture costume-jewelry boutique, Francoise Montague designed these unique handmade ornate pair of sparkly clip earrings featurin...
Category
1950s French Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Enamel, Gilt Metal, Mixed Metal
French ArtDeco BonazStyle BlackRinged EcruResinCabochonBeaded StretchBracelet
Located in Chicago, IL
In the style of Art Deco two-tone galalith beaded stretch bracelets by French Auguste Bonaz, this unsigned chunky ecru cabochon galalith beaded bracelet is linked by a set of tight black cords that are unseen when worn on an arm. The large highly polished beads that remain in excellent condition were hand-carved on each side so that the larger black rings...
Category
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
MiriamHaskell 1945 PeacockBeads Parure WiredBraceletEarrings 16StrandNecklace
By Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
Before 1947 when the brand mark was added and while couture-style adjustable-hook necklaces were in demand in post-war America, Miriam Haskell's first designer Frank Hess created thi...
Category
1940s American Baroque Revival Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Pearl, Gold, Gilt Metal, Yellow Gold
ArtDeco 5BlackDiamond-FacetedSpinels 6BezelSetCognacDiamonds CastSilver Earrings
Located in Chicago, IL
Featuring five sparkly black opaque spinels with diamond-shaped facets and splintery vitreous surfaces, along with bezel-set champagne diamonds with yellow or peach reflections in su...
Category
Mid-20th Century Art Deco Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Spinel, Black Spinel, Brown Diamond, Silver
French MidCentury Bazot 18KGoldPouredGlassEnameledPlaques SilverPendantsNecklace
By Andree Bazot
Located in Chicago, IL
Featuring French studio-artist Andree Bazot's signature technique of topping free-formed layers of polychrome enamels fused on textural foiled plaques with a dollop of poured glass a...
Category
Mid-20th Century French Artisan Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Silver, Enamel, Copper, Gold, 18k Gold
1930s Haskell Hess Fringe BlueGlass & BrassBar Pendants ChainLinkNecklace
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
Featuring a relatively heavy fringe of dangling Russian-gilt brass bars and contrasting French-blue textural hand-pressed glass beads topped with filigree caps to resemble flower bud...
Category
1930s American Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Brass, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
Couture Early Chanel Marked MadeInFrance WiredPearl&LampworkGlass ClipEarrings
By Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
Stamped "Made In France" on their antique brass back-plates like the initial unbranded couture costume-jewelry commissioned by French Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel beginning in 1924, these floral-motif wired earrings with early handcrafted brass clips are decorated with button-like cultured mother-of-pearls mixed with Parisian organically-coated lampwork glass, which we photographed in indoor sunlight for the most accurate colors. The pair were designed by Chanel to accessorize a one-of-a-kind clothing ensemble (likely including cultured-pearl buttons and a brooch) for a client of this pearl-associated couturier whose earliest one-of-a-kind jewelry--unlike other 1920s fashion designers--sometimes mixed real and faux gems.
The intricate glass artistry, wired clustered arrangement and earring findings are characteristic of one of Chanel's first Parisian paruriers, Louis Rousselet, who was a lampwork master with a workshop since 1920 specializing in faux-pearl glass beads and wire-work construction. As the three-piece flat-brass lever clips without hinge-holes on both sides predate Rousselet's wire-horseshoe clips, they can be dated like the patinated well-worn brass hardware to the mid-1920s.
The beads of various sizes and ecru colors that are wired to each earring include five round graduating iridescent mother-of-pearl disks, along with lampwork glass replicating nine baroque pearls, five round pearls and two seed pearls. There are natural imperfections on the green-and-rose-reflecting cultured pearls, while there is some nacre-enamel loss on the glass beads that is not eye visible. On closer view, one of the central round glass beads has a lighter blister, which appears like the texture of some uncultured pearls.
Of note, Chanel did not include a brand signature on any of her couture costume jewelry prior to the mid-1950s. As many of her clients who came to Paris for their couture-clothing fittings were foreign, the coordinated unique jewelry that was expected to leave the country was merely stamped "Made In France" or "France".
We acquired these earrings in The States along with a similar set with less but larger "petals, berries and leaves", which we priced the same in a different listing despite the slightly greater size and weight of this pair. So we know that they both were created for a single commission of multiple unique earrings with like lampwork-glass shapes and findings to be paired with the ecru mother-of-pearls provided by Chanel. While we have acquired over a dozen pre-signature pieces commissioned by the founder, these are the earliest earrings that we have discovered by Chanel. We have never found a single match to contradict our recognition of her early couture creations nor to attribute them to another designer.
Further, Art Deco couture...
Category
1920s French Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Pearl, Cultured Pearl, Brass
ArtDeco 491 ProngSetCrystals SchreinerStyle SilverSolder 35" Belt ChokerNecklace
Located in Chicago, IL
With settings and construction like Art Deco unsigned high-end crystal costume-jewelry by Bavarian-born blacksmith Henry Schreiner (1898-1954), this mid-century unsigned silver-solde...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Art Deco Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Silver, Base Metal
MidCentury SculpturalTexturedGoldBowClasp Graduated4StrandSnakeChain Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
This mid-century shiny yellow-gold-plated snake-chain multi-strand necklace features a sculptural finely-textured gilt-metal bow that is positioned to rest on the upper left chest to...
Category
1940s American Modern Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Yellow Gold, Gold Plate, Base Metal, Gilt Metal
MiriamHaskell Late1920s Hess SignatureGrapeClusterPendant GlassPearl Necklace
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
Featuring the earliest white-swirled glass and enameled faux-pearl round beads handcrafted by Parisian lampwork-master Louis Rousselet for American entrepreneur Miriam Haskell and he...
Category
1920s American Baroque Revival Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Pearl, Silver
Antique HandPressedGlass European GoldFiligreeCapped Beaded Heavy Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
This antique rare hand-pressed-glass necklace features semi-translucent grape-green large beads that are capped with gilt-brass filigree. Based on the combination of bead seams, spring-ring clasp, and metal findings on the unmarked faux Chinese-jade necklace, it dates to the late Victorian period most likely from Western Europe.
Around WWI, hand presses, which stamped molten glass into a mold to create a bead with a hole and a seam, were often used to produce costume jewelry as a cottage industry in Germany and the Czech region. This was while there was a lack of factory machine presses and finishing tumblers that used sand to polish out the seam lines.
Another reason that the cloudy green beads can be identified as atypically hand-pressed is that they are more opaque and therefore harder and less prone to breaking during formation than fully-translucent glass, which was better suited for automated-machine pressing. Also the green beads are an unusual swirled color including white, which suggests that their production was more limited than machine-pressing would enable.
Without the bead-seams, this necklace could be mistaken for one by Coco Chanel. Her 1920s couture...
Category
Early 20th Century German Late Victorian Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Gold, Brass, Gilt Metal
KineticPuppetStringsPinocchio GoldTexturedChainLink3Strand Early20thC. Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
Acquired in The States and likely inspired by the American 1938-commissioned animated-feature movie, Pinocchio, that was produced for two years by Walt Disney based on an Italian children's story, this unsigned pre-WWII yellow-gold-gilt brass necklace with elegant draping chains features a three-inch-long playful kinetic multi-textured faux-carved-wood puppet-on-strings pendant with pointed hat, filigree-capped collar and waist, and flexible geometric-shaped limbs. Structured with three chains, notice the additional texture on the slightly larger links of the upper necklace.
Unlike the movie, as the marionette on our necklace wears a lace-like collar resembling the original character illustrated by Enrico Mazzanti in the book by Tuscany-born Carlo Collodi, The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883), the necklace otherwise could date no earlier than the turn of the 19th Century when the spring-ring clasp was first in use. Since that time, Pinocchio became one of the most reimagined characters in literature based on multiple authors whose protagonist was a similar anthropomorphic puppet.
To be conservative about its age as the necklace is in good condition, we suspect that Austrian-born Hattie Carnegie commissioned it to accessorize her "hat-to-hem" custom-made or ready-to-wear clothing that frequently featured amusing figural subjects with articulated parts, such as mythical creatures, fauna or clowns. Before her death at the age 69 in 1956, not all of the pieces in the costume-jewelry parures of her eponymous brand since 1919 were signed, while based on experience we assume that at least clip earrings accompanied this creative necklace...
Category
Early 20th Century American Artisan Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal, Brass
1930s Haskell FrankHess EnameledBrassCappedRedFruitPendants Bib Chain Necklace
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
With an organic flora motif characteristic of American Miriam Haskell's first designer Frank Hess, this 1930s Russian-gilt brass oval-link chain necklace features a tiered bib of fre...
Category
1930s American Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Brass, Base Metal, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
Couture Early Chanel Marked MadeInFrance WiredPearl&LampworkGlass Clip Earrings
By Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
Marked "Made In France" on their antique brass back-plates like the initial unbranded couture costume-jewelry commissioned by Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel since 1924, these beaded early-handcrafted-clip earrings are arranged with wire in a floral motif featuring button-like mother-of-pearls accented by smaller pieces of lampwork glass with an ecru organic coating that mimics pearl nacre. The pair were designed to accessorize a one-of-a-kind clothing ensemble (likely including cultured-pearl buttons and a brooch) for a client of the pearl-associated French couturier whose earliest jewelry--unlike her fashion-designer peers--sometimes mixed real and faux gems.
The glass artistry, clustered arrangement and earring findings are characteristic of one of her Parisian paruriers, Louis Rousselet, who was a lampwork master with a workshop since 1920 specializing in faux-pearl glass beads and wire-work assembly, along with other decorative elements. Since the three-piece flat-brass lever clips without hinge-holes on both sides predate Rousselet's wire-horseshoe clips, they can be dated like the patinated brass hardware to the mid-1920s.
The beads of various sizes and shades of white that are wired to these earrings include four round graduating iridescent mother-of-pearl disks, along with lampwork glass replicating four baroque pearls, three round pearls and two seed pearls. There are natural impurities present on the green-and-pink-reflecting cultured pearls, while we can clean dust from the coated-glass crevices upon request.
Of note, Chanel did not include a brand signature on any of her couture costume jewelry prior to the mid-1950s. As many of her clients who came to Paris for their couture-clothing fittings were foreign, the coordinated unique jewelry that was expected to leave the country was merely stamped "Made In France" or "France". We acquired these earrings in The States along with similar pair with additional but smaller "petals, berries and leaves" from the same Rousselet commission.
Further, Art Deco couture...
Category
1920s French Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Pearl, Cultured Pearl, Brass
1930s Schiaparelli Baretti GalalithRoseMotifFuchsiaGarland CordTiedBrassNecklace
By Elsa Schiaparelli
Located in Chicago, IL
With 1930s findings in the distinct highly-textural and unusual-mixed-media style of French parurier Lina Baretti (1899-1994), who was a frequent designer of unsigned one-of-a-kind c...
Category
1930s French Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Brass
MiriamHaskell 1940s FrankHess Clustered FauxPearl YellowGold FrenchClip Earrings
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
With French hinged ribbed clips like those paired with the earliest brand signature of American costume-jewelry pioneer Miriam Haskell in the late 1940s (see our other listing for signed fleur...
Category
1940s American Baroque Revival Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Pearl, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
Trifari Alfred Philippe YellowGold HeavyChainTasselSautoir Textural DemiParure
By Alfred Philippe for Trifari
Located in Chicago, IL
Signed "Trifari" with a crown and without a post-1955 U.S.-copyright symbol on all three matching pieces, this likely late-1930s highly-textured yellow-gold-plated demi-parure was designed by American Trifari's French-born head designer Alfred Philippe after he had honed his fine-jewelry craftsmanship while creating luxury parures for Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. The set features a heavy tasseled eight-strand chain sautoir necklace and earrings with dropped fluted-ball pendants,
With French-style signed clip fastening, the contrasting-texture two-inch-long earrings each have two twisted fluted round beads in different sizes, with the larger one capped at both ends with additional shapes and textures.
On the necklace, this textural contrast is amplified with the inclusion of many chains. The decorative chain caps and...
Category
1930s American Baroque Revival Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Gold, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
1941 ChanelRelevant American Reinad ArtDecoStyle Silver PolkaDot LargeBow Brooch
By Reinad
Located in Chicago, IL
In Spring 1941 after French fashion couturier Gabriel "Coco" Chanel had stopped production of her clothing designs while she remained in Europe during the WWII era, the decades-old American costume-jewelry company Reinad began imprinting pieces in its new retail line, Chanel Novelty Co, with the script signature "Chanel". As this was prior to the use of the sans-serif capital-letter signature "CHANEL" on French-made jewelry that was commissioned by the Parisian designer, as well as before U.S.-copyright protection began in 1955, the House of Chanel that was mostly owned by the Jewish Wertheimer family of venture capitalists (who remarkably still produced Parfums CHANEL and French-vineyard wine via legal proxy while they lived in asylum in The States during the war) filed a U.S. lawsuit to demand that Reinad halt the use of its founder's famous last name.
As the Werthheimers' quickly won, Reinad only produced the single seasonal collection stamped with the French brand name, and subsequently only imprinted its company name as the sans-serif capital-letter signature "REINAD" without a copyright symbol, which was different that its prior signatures dating back to its founding in 1922. When Chanel herself resumed French-made fashion production in Paris in 1953 (with Werthheimer support leading to their acquisition of all rights to her name despite her post-war eight-year exile in Switzerland due to close association with Nazis), for the first time all of her creations were signed "CHANEL" like the original packaging of the exceedingly profitable "No.5" perfume.
While Reinad continued to produced costume jewelry until 1954, in the last decade of this business, the U.S. company continued to try to appeal to potential Chanel buyers by at least making Chanel-style designs. As such, owning an attractive and well-made Reinad piece can be considered a useful investment in fashion history as evidence of a little-known turning-point involving the most famous ongoing luxury-fashion business Chanel, as well as of the impact of that legal judgement had on advancing U.S. design protection for brands that later used the copyright symbol.
Like early ArtDeco-style oversized heavy metallic costume jewelry by Chanel, this three-dimensional monochrome silver-alloy polkadot bow brooch imitates a pale polkadot-textured ribbon. Notably, while high-quality ribbon for styling hair or decorating clothing in a non-functional way was still an expensive accessory...
Category
1940s American Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Rhodium, Silver, Base Metal
Early Renoir MidCentury Copper Stylized Tulip 18 Link Choker Necklace
By Renoir
Located in Chicago, IL
Without a post-1955 copyright symbol and with the brand's earliest script signature, this likely late 1940s signed Renoir shiny copper choker necklace features 18 links each stylized as a tulip flowerhead in a modernized bolder Art Nouveau style. The American jewelry company's exclusive durable "Copron" finishing on the top of the links prevents tarnishing and fingerprints. The functional tiny linear links and the reverse side of the necklace were meant to remain blackened, while a black signature is impressed on the underside of the fold-over clasp.
Comparatively without the additional enamel decoration of the company's post-1952 jewelry line signed Matisse...
Category
1940s American Art Nouveau Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Copper
Antique Victorian MuranoGlass MicroMillefiori GoldBalls RedBeaded Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
This antique late-Victorian Italian Murano-glass unsigned necklace features three oblong red beads with miniature multicolor swirled-stripe patterns made with the millefiori techniqu...
Category
Early 1900s Italian Arts and Crafts Antique Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Gold, Gilt Metal, Brass
Unique MidCentury Handcrafted Hammered 6BrassWires SpiralsLoopsSquiggles Pendant
Located in Chicago, IL
This vintage handcrafted brass-wire pendant was shaped and hammered into lively three-dimensional spirals, loops and squiggles with wrapped construction by an unknown 20th-Century st...
Category
Mid-20th Century European Modernist Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Brass
Unique MidCentury Handcrafted Hammered 6BrassWires SpiralsLoopsSquiggles Pendant
Located in Chicago, IL
This vintage handcrafted brass-wire pendant was shaped and hammered into lively three-dimensional spirals, loops and squiggles with wrapped construction by an unknown 20th-Century st...
Category
Mid-20th Century European Modernist Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Brass
Antique RareVenetian ArchimedeSegusoStyle HandblownGlass Links Pendants Necklace
By Archimede Seguso
Located in Chicago, IL
Like elegant multi-pendant festoon necklaces from the mid-1800s, this antique 19th-Century Italian glass choker collar by the Seguso family that founded Vetri d'Arte on the Venetian island of Murano features three one-inch-drop pendants, which here include reddish pink mouth-blown glass balls with golden reflections that are supported by brass findings and unusual ecru glass links that form a chain. The handcrafted closed links appear to be miniature versions of the style made famous in the next century by the family's descendant Archimede Seguso (1909-1999), whom Gabriel "Coco" Chanel worked...
Category
19th Century Italian Artisan Antique Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Brass
Couture Chanel Pre1955 Signed France Gripoix PouredGlass Goosens Earrings
By Maison Gripoix for Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
This couture pair of gold-gilt earrings are both stamped "France" on their convex gold-gilt metal ear-pads, which is characteristic of one-of-a-kind designs commissioned by Parisian ...
Category
Mid-20th Century French Art Deco Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Turquoise, Pearl, Gold, Gilt Metal
Couture Christian Lacroix Paris SilkSatin RareBlackLacquerTop Large Evening Bag
By Christian Lacroix Paris
Located in Chicago, IL
Designed to accompany Parisian couture by French Christian Lacroix, this unused late-1980s large pale-celadon-green silk satin, which feature textural black topstitching and a sleek ...
Category
1980s French Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Art Nouveau Azurmalachite MilapillasMine Cabochon MexicanSilver Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
First appearing like an intense green-blue black opal without the flash, this antique natural azurmalachite oval-cut 10mm cabochon in a bezel setting features curvaceous vivid-green ...
Category
Early 1900s Mexican Art Nouveau Antique Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Malachite, Sterling Silver
MiriamHaskell c1930 Hess GoldGiltChain CappedAquaGlass ThumblessClasp Bib Choker
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
Around 1930, Miriam Haskell's first designer Frank Hess designed this Russian-gilt brass ribbed-chain link bib necklace featuring 27 strands of varying length each wired to aqua faux-turquoise pressed glass beads with characteristic gold pronged-bell caps and thumbless spring-ring clasp. After the Great Depression began in the United States in 1929, to keep her popular European-style costume jewelry affordable among fashionable ladies, Haskell began using less expensive imported handcrafted glass beads, which included Czech and German pressed glass. Initially when she opened her handmade ready-to-wear costume-jewelry business in 1926 in New York City's downtown McAlpin Hotel, she had used only the finest Parisian glass beads and findings like French couturiers including Coco Chanel who soon became her competition. which Haskell promoted with the French name of her first boutique Le Bijou de L'Heure.
If interested in assembling a suitable set of early Haskell-Hess pieces with similar aesthetics, please see our other listings for the aqua glass-and-enamel scalloped button clip earrings and the "peacock" coil arm-band bracelet with Parisian lampworked glass, faceted crystal, painted galalith beads, and cupped rose...
Category
1930s American Baroque Revival Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Turquoise, 24k Gold, Yellow Gold, Brass, Gilt Metal
Bakelite 1930s German ArtDeco GoldRinged EmeraldBallPendants ChainLink Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
Most likely made in Germany during the Art Deco period, this vintage unsigned long heavy 12-pendant gold-gilt chain-link bib necklace features ball charms of gold-ringed emerald-gree...
Category
1930s German Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Yellow Gold, Base Metal, Gilt Metal
Antique ArtNouveau MuchaMajorelleGruberStyle SignedNancyStainedGlass SilveredBox
By Daum
Located in Chicago, IL
Influenced by the Art-Nouveau illustrations of Alphonse Mucha, this antique French jewelry box display case is decorated with silvered bronze or ...
Category
1890s French Art Nouveau Antique Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Gilt Metal, Mixed Metal, Silver Plate, Brass, Bronze
Antique ArtNouveau Austria Scheid RareMark Pave BlueZircon Silver Snakes Brooch
By Georg Adam Scheid
Located in Chicago, IL
During the Art-Nouveau period while German-born Vienna-based silversmith, niello master, and entrepreneur Georg Adam Scheid (1837-1921) was prospering from a related refinery busines...
Category
Early 20th Century Austrian Art Nouveau Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Aquamarine, Diamond, Sapphire, Zircon, Silver, Sterling Silver
SignedSchiaparelli MidCentury LeavesMotif AustrianCrystals GiltLinks Bracelet
By Schiaparelli
Located in Chicago, IL
Signed "Schiaparelli" in script, this mid-century link bracelet features a textural-leaves motif characteristic of the Parisian couturier Elsa Schiaparelli. Like many of her couture ...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Post-War Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Yellow Gold, Base Metal, Gilt Metal
Henry Schreiner 1930s ProngSetCrystal FloraSpray TeardropFrame GiltBrass Brooch
By Henry Schreiner
Located in Chicago, IL
Henry Schreiner, the Austrian-born blacksmith founder of Schreiner New York in 1932, handcrafted this multi-color prong-set Bavarian crystal stylized-...
Category
1930s American Artist Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Brass, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
Early20thC ByzantineRedCrossPendant LampworkGlass Galalith SilverToggle Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
Characteristic of the large chunky shapes including Byzantine-style crosses favored by French couturiers Gabriel "Coco" Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Lacroix for their cos...
Category
Early 20th Century French Byzantine Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Quartz, Gold, Silver, Copper
HattieCarnegie PostWWII Crystal GoldGiltMesh FlutedBalls Dangle Climber Earrings
By Hattie Carnegie
Located in Chicago, IL
Around WWII, Hattie Carnegie (1886-1956)--one of the leading American entrepreneurs of made-to-order and ready-to-wear fashion for four decades--began producing costume-jewelry parur...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Baroque Revival Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Gold, Gilt Metal, Yellow Gold, Gold Plate
Louis Rousselet ArtDeco Glass FloralLampwork Beaded Silver Toggle Necklace
By Louis Rousselet
Located in Chicago, IL
With a distinct silver twisted toggle clasp and multiple kinds of nubby rondelles dating to the late 1920s, Parisian parurier Louis Rousselet's workshop handcrafted this glass beaded...
Category
1920s French Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Silver, Sterling Silver
Couture 1930s Bucherer "Deposee" ArtDeco 40StoneTrimmedWatch 18K TennisBracelet
By Bucherer
Located in Chicago, IL
Trimmed with 40 rose-cut diamond-like stones and marked "deposee" on the clasp like antique European couture jewelry, this Art Deco-period unique Bucherer luxury dress-watch snake-ch...
Category
1930s Swiss Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Mixed Metal, White Gold, Stainless Steel, 18k Gold, Platinum
Antique ArtDeco French LampworkGlass GalalithFans SilverRondelles Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
This antique French early Art-Deco period two-strand necklace is strung with a variety of Parisian handcrafted beads that date to the early 1920s, including sea-green lampwork glass,...
Category
1920s French Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Rock Crystal, Silver, Sterling Silver
MiriamHaskell c1929 FrankHess Rare FurClips GoldGiltBrass 3ChainFloraBow Lariat
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
As one of Miriam Haskell's earliest fur clips from the late 1920s, these two Russian-gold gilt mostly brass brooches by her first designer Frank Hess are tethered as a lariat by thre...
Category
1930s American Baroque Revival Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Yellow Gold, Brass, Gilt Metal
ArtDeco Marcasite&Pyrite Sparkly SterlingSilver GeometricWideFiligree Band Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
Encrusted with mixed-cut pyrite and marcasite stones for gold and silver reflections, this extremely-sparkly double-rimmed wide thick sterling-silver ring was designed by an artisan ...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Art Deco Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Marcasite, Pyrite, Sterling Silver
MiriamHaskell 1930s Hess TorsadeSet GiltFiligreeCap FauxPearls Earrings & Choker
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
During the Art Deco period, Miriam Haskell's first designer Frank Hess designed this blue-and-white glass-beaded hand-sewn torsade set of dangle earrings and a choker necklace, whose knotted string is capped with their characteristic Russian-gilt brass flora filigree. Coinciding with the American Great Depression, to offer some less expensive costume jewelry than her initial ready-to-wear styles featuring Parisian hand-crafted materials found in French couture, Haskell reduced the cost of some of her findings by locally sourcing stamped metal and incorporating hand-pressed glass beads from Germany and Czechoslovakia.
With a loop, the line from hand pressing the glass can only be found on the blue beads, while the white ones are coated in an organic material like authentic French faux pearls. The ends of the textured cords that string the beaded set were frayed to form a fuzzy opaque dome that hides the knots attached to the filigree caps.
No Haskell jewelry was signed before 1947. The unsigned necklace...
Category
1930s American Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Brass, Gilt Metal, Yellow Gold
Julianna Delizza&Elster AuroraBorealisEncrusted Chunky Gunmetal SixLink Bracelet
By Delizza & Elster
Located in Chicago, IL
New York City designers Delizza & Elster created this eye-catching sparkly colorful chunky heavy six-link gunmetal bracelet in the late mid-century. ...
Category
1960s American Baroque Revival Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Base Metal, Copper, Gilt Metal
Antique ArtNouveau European FauxLampwork Glass Flora CherryBlossom Long Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
With a silver clasp that could be as old as the Victorian period and in an Art-Nouveau style with pale intricate flora motifs, this antique long glass necklace features lampwork-like...
Category
1920s Austrian Art Nouveau Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Silver
Couture 1930s ElsaSchiaparelliStyle Pink FauxRubyGoldGlassBeads Tassel Sautoir
Located in Chicago, IL
Long before Barbie, Elsa Schiaparelli famously embraced "shocking pink" for her Surrealist-aesthetic couture clothing and handcrafted costume jewelry, which she commissioned from Parisian paruriers beginning in the late 1920s--when some of the most expensive jewels were fuchsia Burmese rubies. In this antique glass-beaded sautoir tassel-necklace, 37 "shocking pink" balls are each delicately caged like hot-air balloons by seven textural strands of faux-pearl-and-gold seed beads. These spherical stations are spaced by lustrous white medium-size faux pearls, ending in a four-strand seed-bead tassel that cages four of the fuchsia faux pearls. The beads are strung on bright magenta silk cord without a clasp.
Sautoirs were an essential element of flapper style since Schiaparelli's couture-mentor Paul Poiret changed the silhouette of clothing in the 1920s, while the long necklaces remained popular until wartime 1939.
To compete with her rival couturier Gabriel "Coco" Chanel, Schiaparelli (1890-1973) relied on the same French glassmakers, Maison Gripoix and Louis Rousselet--the masters of faux pearls at the time who added organic-ingredient coatings to their handmade glass beads. Either glass workshop that was established by the 1920s could have been commissioned to make the progressive hot-pink pearls for this unsigned necklace that dates to the Art Deco period.
The design of this highly-textural tri-color sautoir featuring fuchsia spheres particularly suits the style of one of Schiaparelli's most frequent paruriers through the 1930s, Jean Clement. Some of his relevant unsigned work for Schiaparelli is in museum collections like The Met, including highly-textural tri-color sphere-decorated buttons/brooches and a fuchsia-toned metal-rosebud bead necklace.
After Schiaparelli had become associated with fuchsia, she made particularly prolific use of this bright magenta in the late 1930s. In her demi-couture collections such as "Circus" and "Comedia del' Arte" (see our 3 photos), fuchsia jackets are adorned with similar colorful spherical glass beads among embroidered appliques and animal/clown brooches, as well as whimsical painted-ceramic buttons...
Category
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Pearl, Gold
AncientGreekStyle Sculptural OpenWork BezelSetLapisCabochon Handmade Gold Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
Found in Greece, this ancient style gold-smithed sculptural open-work ring features at its raised end a bezel-set lapis cabochon, while the other end of the by-pass band below is sha...
Category
20th Century Greek Classical Greek Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Lapis Lazuli, Yellow Gold, Gold, Gilt Metal, Bronze
MiriamHaskell WWII Era FrankHess GoldGiltCast Filigree Butterfly Brooch
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
A child of the Art Nouveau period, Miriam Haskell loved its butterfly design-motifs, which are found in many pieces of costume jewelry by her first designer Frank Hess. His butterfly...
Category
1940s American Art Nouveau Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal, Base Metal
Couture 1920s French HandCarved Dogs Hounds Galalith RedPaintedArtPlastic Brooch
Located in Chicago, IL
This Art-Deco period French carved, lathe-worked, sculpted and painted red-enameled black galalith figural brooch depicts a pair of long-limbed dogs, which may be wolfhounds, greyhou...
Category
1920s French Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Brass
ArtNouveau Antique Dutch Pearl Inlaid Sterling FloralMotif ScrewBack Earrings
Located in Chicago, IL
These signed antique Art-Nouveau period abalone shell sterling-silver screw-back earrings carry the maker's mark and initials of Dutch A.S. Agsteribbe, who worked in Amsterdam in The Netherlands in the early 20th Century. The mother-of-pearl is artistically inlaid into iridescent petal shapes. The lush colors range from lavendar, green, blue, ecru, white, pink and brown, while they change patterns of reflection in different angles of light.
If you are looking for a less expensive but equally artistic piece of white-metal-set abalone jewelry...
Category
1910s Dutch Art Nouveau Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Natural Pearl, Sterling Silver
MiriamHaskell WWII FrankHess PurpleGlassFlowersGoldLeaves WiredPlasticBackBrooch
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
Beginning in 1939, Miriam Haskell asked her first designer Frank Hess to sparingly use metal in the costume-jewelry collections during WWII while war materials were needed. So their ...
Category
1940s American Baroque Revival Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Mixed Metal
Antique ImperialJadeite TranslucentGreen IntricateCarvedFlora 1890sScrewEarrings
Located in Chicago, IL
Made during the crossover Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau movements, these antique Chinese earrings feature rare Burmese natural untreated translucent im...
Category
1890s Chinese Arts and Crafts Antique Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Jade, Brass, Gilt Metal, Yellow Gold
MiriamHaskell WWII FrankHess Rose Rhodoid & CrystalMontee Layered Clip Climbers
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
Beginning in 1939, American Miriam Haskell asked her first designer since 1926 Frank Hess to sparingly use metal in their costume-jewelry collections during WWII while war materials were needed. So not unlike the Spring/Summer 2024 floral appliques designed by Balmain artistic director Olivier Rousteing, hand-crafted rose-motif plastic never looked more beautiful in the 20th Century than such eye-catching glossy creations as these ballet-pink clip earrings by Hess. In this reflective and sparkling pair of lightweight slightly asymmetrical climbers, shiny film-like rhodoid is hand-cut, layered in three dimensions for irregular shadows, and riveted with clear roses-montees to a thin silver metal frame, which replaced Hess' characteristic wired Russian-gilt brass frame while still resembling his earlier construction (see our other Haskell listing for an early double fur-clip chain lariat). The earring clips, with tiny holes that were used for unsigned Haskell...
Category
1940s American Modern Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Mixed Metal
1950sRobertGoosensStyle CastOakLeafTalisman BaroqueFauxPearls GoldChain Sautoir
Located in Chicago, IL
While contracted as an independent craftsman to create one-of-a-kind costume jewelry for French Masion Degorce from 1953 until it closed in 1957, Parisian goldsmith Robert Goosens (1927-2016) was initially commissioned by Gabriel "Coco" Chanel to craft one-of-a-kind Byzantine-style long decorative-chain necklaces with multiple charms made of metal and filigree-or-sculptural-prong-capped glass faux pearls, while she intended to layer many of them to accessorize her couture clothing for clients and herself.
Relevant to the unclear designer of our vintage 9-pendant ribbed-chain sautoir with an unsigned gold-gilt silver barrel clasp and five unique kinds of intricately textured vermeil and baroque-faux-pearl charms, a similar lost-wax-cast center pendant with three-lobed-foliate prongs also in the shape of oak leaves can be seen in the book (p.28), Bijoux de Haute Couture: Collection Robert Goossens, by Gilles Plazy and Chantal Bizot published in Paris in 2000. The same year, that Chanel-signed pendant necklace was auctioned by Christie's in a lot including an unsigned long chain sautoir also attributed to Chanel. Further, another 1stDibs dealer currently has a $12,500 listing for an unsigned but book-published early-1950s faux-pearl sautoir for Chanel that also features intricate pinecone talismans like ours, but decorated with poured glass and crystals crafted by Maison Gripoix.
When Chanel relaunched her post-war business ventures, Goosens soon became her favorite parurier before founding his eponymous Maison Goosens, whose venerable workshop later designed metal work for its own jewelry-and-furnishings brand Goosens Paris.
Notably, Chanel did not add a brand signature to costume jewelry until the late 1950s, while some pieces prior to this by multiple paruriers are documented to lack any identification that Chanel was earlier known to stamp such as "France", "Made In France" and/or "Depose". Recently, a similar unsigned/unmarked longer chain sautoir with fewer filigree-and-pearl pendants that was believed to be by Robert Goosens for Chanel...
Category
1950s French Byzantine Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Pearl, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal, Silver, Vermeil
HautCoutureDiorDesignerWesternGermanyMaxMuller Crystal SinuousDangleClipEarrings
By Max Müller Kaufbeuren
Located in Chicago, IL
While making similar mid-century haute-couture costume jewelry for Christian Dior, designer Max Muller based near Kaufbeuren, Western Germany, created these dramatic clear-crystal si...
Category
Mid-20th Century German Modern Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Silver, Gilt Metal
Couture 1930s CocoChanel LinaBaretti SatinBlackCamellias PaveCrystals Gold Set
By Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
This rare signed couture set of pave-crystal and gold-plated brooch and earrings from the Art Deco period is marked in the manner of one-off costume jewelry commissioned...
Category
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Gold, Gold Plate, Silver
Trifari 1940s Philippe 4PieceParure CrystalFloraMotif GoldNecklaceEarringsBrooch
By Alfred Philippe for Trifari
Located in Chicago, IL
In the late 1940s, Trifari's French-born artistic director Alfred Philippe, who had earlier created fine jewelry for Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, designed this flora-motif crystal...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Art Deco Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Crystal, Diamond, Gold, Gold Plate, Yellow Gold
Couture 2000s Four HandCut Rubies Italian Goldsmith SterlingSilver HookEarring
By UGO CACCIATORI
Located in Chicago, IL
Italian-Riviera goldsmith Ugo Cacciatori designed this signed one-of-a-kind sterling-silver hook earring featuring four hand-cut rubies for a fashion show during a Paris Couture Week...
Category
Early 2000s Italian Contemporary Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches
Materials
Ruby, Sterling Silver
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