Marilyn F. Cooperman Brooches
It didn’t matter that Marilyn F. Cooperman didn’t have any formal training when well-known American luxury jeweler Fred Leighton asked her to design jewelry. By then, she had written professionally about fashion, established her own clothing company, and built up so much New York City chutzpah that she could have made it anywhere.
When she was 20 years old, the Toronto-born Cooperman moved to New Zealand and wrote a newspaper column about fashion and beauty. In 1963, she relocated to New York City and opened her first clothing company, Max and Marilyn, where she sold Art Deco–inspired clothing to department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman and Bloomingdale’s.
Cooperman designed a collection of resort wear for Fred Leighton’s apparel store, but by the mid-1970s, she returned to writing and worked as a fashion director for Seventeen magazine and later held editing roles at Simplicity and Vogue Patterns.
In 1987, Leighton, an esteemed red carpet jeweler who has become known for bringing antique and 20th-century jewels to a discerning international clientele, asked Cooperman to design accessories for his store on Madison Avenue. She accepted his offer and took up studies on wax casting at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
After five years of designing for Leighton, Cooperman opened her own jewelry company, Marilyn F. Cooperman, Inc. Her earrings were brightly colored, eye-catching confections that featured opals, rubies and blue sapphires, and she created innovative, alluring bracelets that mixed patinated silver and 18-karat gold. Her accessories were a hit, especially among celebrities, political figures and royalty.
Cooperman’s jewelry is held in the collections of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City, the Yale University Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. She was on the Board of the American Society of Jewelry Historians.
On 1stDibs, find vintage Marilyn F. Cooperman earrings, brooches and rings.
Late 20th Century American Marilyn F. Cooperman Brooches
Moonstone, Sterling Silver, 18k Gold
1980s Unknown Retro Vintage Marilyn F. Cooperman Brooches
Ruby, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1970s Vintage Marilyn F. Cooperman Brooches
Turquoise, Sterling Silver
1940s American Retro Vintage Marilyn F. Cooperman Brooches
Gold Plate, Vermeil, Sterling Silver
1920s American Art Deco Vintage Marilyn F. Cooperman Brooches
Sterling Silver, Brass
1940s Art Deco Vintage Marilyn F. Cooperman Brooches
Vermeil, Sterling Silver
1940s American Retro Vintage Marilyn F. Cooperman Brooches
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver
1940s American Retro Vintage Marilyn F. Cooperman Brooches
Gold Plate, Rose Gold, Sterling Silver
1930s American Vintage Marilyn F. Cooperman Brooches
Vermeil, Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary German Marilyn F. Cooperman Brooches
Citrine, Diamond, Brown Diamond, Emerald, Blue Sapphire, Yellow Sapphire...
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Artist Marilyn F. Cooperman Brooches
Blue Sapphire, Coral, Diamond, White Diamond, 18k Gold, White Gold
1940s American Vintage Marilyn F. Cooperman Brooches
Sterling Silver, Gold Plate
1940s American Retro Vintage Marilyn F. Cooperman Brooches
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Gilt Metal
1980s American Vintage Marilyn F. Cooperman Brooches
Yellow Diamond, South Sea Pearl, 18k Gold, Sterling Silver
1980s American Vintage Marilyn F. Cooperman Brooches
Diamond, Topaz, Tourmaline, 18k Gold
21st Century and Contemporary American Marilyn F. Cooperman Brooches
Emerald, Diamond, 18k Gold
American Marilyn F. Cooperman Brooches
Diamond, Sapphire, Sterling Silver, 18k Gold