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MiriamHaskell 1940s FrankHess Clustered FauxPearl YellowGold FrenchClip Earrings

About the Item

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-de-lys earrings), these unsigned half-hoop gold-gilt metal earrings featuring hand-crafted Parisian glass faux-pearl beads that are woven to the perforated yellow-gold open ring, were made during the WWII-era. Around the war outbreak in 1939, Haskell asked her first designer Frank Hess to reduce the use of foreign and metal materials, which they resumed six years later. Prior to 1947, no Haskell jewelry was marked with a permanent signature. Not all of it was signed until 1950, ironically when the University-of-Chicago-educated entrepreneur was forced by her brother to retire due to her increasing mental health issues. So properly-identified unsigned pieces made prior to 1950 are the most collectible. As further evidence that these more modest Haskell earrings were made during the 1940s while fine glass and metal jewelry findings were scarce, the characteristic metal wiring of Hess was temporarily switched to transparent plastic (see our other listing for WWII purple-and-gold plastic-backed brooch). The classic-style clustered-pearl earrings are in very good condition with the only signs of wear seen with a loop around the bead holes as the glass was finished with an organic coating. We price these earrings for less than our other early Haskell earrings based on the relatively simple construction.
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