Adorable Seaman Schepps Turtle Brooch
By Seaman Schepps
Located in New York, NY
An American Mid-Century 18 karat gold, carnelian, citrine and emerald turtle brooch by Seaman Schepps, featuring a carved carnelian shell set with with round-cut and oval-cut citrine...
Carnelian, Citrine, Emerald, 18k Gold
Rare Seaman Schepps Sapphire Gold Ring
By Seaman Schepps
Located in Chevy Chase, MD
The design is of the same style as the iconic Seaman Schepps turtle of the 1940's, featured in the book "Seaman Schepps A Century of New York Jewelry Design". .
Sapphire, 18k Gold
Sold
W 2 in D 0.75 in L 2.88 in
Seaman Schepps Yellow Gold Turtle Clip Brooch Pin with Citrine and Wood
By Seaman Schepps
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Lovely sea-world brooch created by Seaman Schepps in the 1960s. Warm and articulated, the clip is a great addition to your jewelry collection.
Citrine, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Seaman Schepps Jasper Citrine Emerald Gold Turtle Brooch Pin
By Seaman Schepps
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Marked: 7020, Shell signature mark, 750 , Seaman Schepps.
Citrine, Emerald, 18k Gold
Seaman Schepps Wood Malachite Turtle Pearl Gold Link Necklace
By Seaman Schepps
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Brand New 18k yellow gold long chain necklace, complimented with three charm pendants - malachite turtle, carved wood Buddha and a pearl. All designed by Seaman Schepps.
Malachite, 18k Gold
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.