Berkshires - Jewelry & Watches

This couture 1930s Coco-Chanel-commissioned French Maison Gripoix hand-crafted demi-parure features eight flower pendants whose daisy-like metal-smithed petal frames suspend transpar...

This antique amuletic bronze framed pendant cages a dozen 7mm-diameter single-cut rock crystals that each feature a table-cut decagon crown, deep pavilion, 21 facets and uncut girdle, while the culets range from off-center to blunted. They are tightly set within four linked rings to overlap at the same angle in a sparkling single row. Seeming to retain a little of its original yellow-gold gilding on just the interior, the frame that surrounds each of the four sections of three crystals enables them to reflect pale yellow and lime light when the pendant is viewed from certain angles. Each crystal can be manually rotated. Suggesting French heritage, the medieval Frankish culture in northern France made jewelry in similar segmented or open-work shapes of wheels or whorls, which were worn as gem-decorated disk-shaped brooches or gold-caged rock...

Among the most in-demand designs by Trifari artistic director Alfred Philippe were his flora and "jelly belly" fauna jewelry from the 1940s. Both iconic styles can be mixed as the go...

Trimmed with 40 diamond-like crystals and marked "deposee" for its uniqueness on the clasp like antique European couture jewelry, this Art-Deco period Swiss Bucherer lady's dress wat...

Demonstrating the epitome of miniature decorative art by Renaissance European goldsmiths who fashioned quatrefoil and cruciform jewelry with heraldry or religious symbols, this centu...

This Art-Deco period French carved, lathe-worked, sculpted and red-painted black-galalith figural brooch depicts a pair of long-limbed dogs, which may be gazelle hounds, wolfhounds, ...

Stamped "Made In France" on antique brass back-plates like the initial unbranded couture costume-jewelry since 1924 commissioned by French Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel for her foreign-cli...

Between the first ad campaign that couturier Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) commissioned from internationally admired Paris-based multimedia artist Marcel Vertes (1895-1961) for her blockbuster perfume "Shocking" in 1937, and in 1940 when they left France after launching her perfume "Sleeping" shortly before the Nazi occupation during WWII, the illustrator-cum-ceramist distinctly handmade--while traditional materials for couture costume jewelry were scarce in Paris--this whimsical red-glazed ceramic brooch. It depicts a duck holding an umbrella dripped with dashes of turquoise and black glaze to appear wet. Significantly, the trombone clasp of the pin, the long-pronged gilt frame, and the text stamped on its back plate "Made In France" match a similarly sized glazed ceramic brooch of a decoratively chained bear that was published in the book Bijoux (page 146). The author Deanna Farenti Cera dated that likewise unbranded unsigned brooch to 1938 when it was commissioned for one of Schiaparelli's themed fashion shows "Circus". The invitation to that show, which was illustrated with circus characters and performing animals by Vertes' Parisian peer Christian Berard, included a domesticated white duck--notably not holding nor wearing a fashion accessory. Unusually, Schiaparelli had commissioned couture umbrellas from other artisans in the 1930s--a couple of which were acquired by TheMet museum. Another relevant Met acquisition of one of the designer's couture evening gowns, which it dates to Summer 1940, features three large glazed-ceramic fasteners in a contrasting color matching our brooch. The like findings, materials, construction, text, object and palette aside, accessory-adorned ducks were among the figurative animals commissioned by Schiaparelli for that last collection before the Germans dominated Paris by June 1940, which is evidenced by the photo of the dated gilt hatpin depicting a bejeweled bird head with a bill that appears in the book by Patrick Mauries about another Schiaparelli-associated French parurier Lina Baretti (pages 124-125). See our other listing for one of Baretti's uniquely feathered designs, which likewise has a pronged gilt frame with trombone clasp like ours, but whose partridge subject best suits an earlier Schiaparelli collection for Fall 1938 titled "Pagan". For us, distinguishing our brooch from other one-of-a-kind ceramic pieces created for Schiaparelli couture...

Like the initial unbranded couture costume jewelry commissioned by French Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel for her foreign-client ensembles, "Made In France" was stamped on these one-of-a-kin...

Victorian Belle-Epoque and Edwardian styles transitioned to Art-Deco period jewelry with semi-precious materials and machine-age shapes around WWI when this unique 20-link choker nec...

Distinguished by the tightly coiled style of Georgian-period-inspired cannetille gold wire that decorates each of the four pieces of this parure, French costume-jewelry designer Lina...

With the Coro signature "script-no-angle" since 1919 and "PAT.PEND.", this early Art Deco vermeil lady bug beetle brooch features a red enameled face and mixed-cut bezel-set red and ...

French Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel commissioned Parisian Maison Gripoix in the late 1930s to fabricate this elegant handmade drop-chain choker necklace for one of her couture clients. In...

In the style of Elsa Schiaparelli couture costume jewelry and one of her paruriers beginning in the late 1930s, Jean Schlumberger, this hand-crafted highly textural glass and crystal...

Weiss rhinestone brooch, c.1960s, of square shape arranged in a square within a square, each composed of rectangular stones on all sides centering square crystals at the corners and ...

This couture Maison Martin Margiela Artisanal "Line 0" 1990s miniature-belt silver-plated buckled and riveted vegetable-tanned chocolate leather bracelet or anklet, whose harness-style firm strap mimics a fine-jewelry coiled metal rope chain, was hand moulded into a fixed shape from a remodeled strap from an eariler Margiela collection or used accessory. Notably, silver-frame buckles and riveted unstitched leather straps were among the founder's most repeated design elements for accessories at the Maison since his first fashion show in 1989 (see our snaps of early-Look-ensemble recreations that he handmade in miniature on dolls or the largest buckled leather belt that he designed), as well as during his tenure directing luxury womenswear at Hermes (1997-2003) when he created the iconic Double Tour wrap-around strap buckle-framed watch. Regarding the significance of the bare leather that he used in our piece and later for some ready-to-wear at Hermes, Martin Margiela was quoted (translated from French): "My favorite (Hermes) watch was the Cape Cod designed...

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 business...

With distinct handmade glass by French Maison Gripoix for a faux-amethyst 25mm domed open-back oval cabochon poured into a forged wire ring topped with a serrated-bezel setting, this...

In a rare scissor cut dating to the 1500s, this centuries-old prong-set hogback rock-crystal pendant produces a fascinating play of refractions in low light. With its rectangular nar...

Mid-century, New York City designers Delizza & Elster created this eye-catching sparkly colorful glass chunky six-link gunmetal heavy bracelet. It is elaborately encrusted with auror...

Encrusted with enameled turbo shells shaped like miniature mollusks and mixed with iridescent crystals, this elaborately ornamented and intricately textured unsigned pair of yellow-g...

Signed "Made in France", this Parisian couture poured and lampwork glass flower-like spray brooch has its artisan-wired construction concealed by a decorative gilt filigree scalloped...

Two years before the brand signature first appeared in 1947, Miriam Haskell's first designer Frank Hess since 1926 designed these asymmetrical Baroque-style climber earrings. To be p...

A statement necklace from 2010 by Rodrigo Otazu, known for his extravagant creations for Madonna, Lady Gaga, and for the Sex and the City cast. Fashioned from multiple layers of gold...

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 gems were fuchsia Burmese rubies. In this Art Deco period glass-beaded sautoir tassel necklace, 37 unusual fuchsia faux-pearls are each delicately caged like hot-air balloons by seven textural strands of tiny 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 beads. 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. While competing with her fashion rival couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, Schiaparelli (1890-1973) relied on the same French artisans, Maison Gripoix and Louis Rousselet--the masters of glass faux pearls at the time. Either workshop that was established by the 1920s could have been commissioned to make the progressive hot-pink pearls for this unsigned necklace. The design of this highly-textural tricolor sautoir featuring fuchsia spheres could suit 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 tricolor sphere-decorated buttons and brooches or 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 dell' Arte" (see our 3 photos), fuchsia jackets are adorned with similar colorful spherical glass beads among embroidered appliques and animal or clown brooches, as well as whimsical painted-ceramic buttons...

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...

Remarkably more expressive than iconic phoenix brooches by Jean Schlumberger or Marcel Boucher, this unique Georgian-style three-dimensional bird bar brooch by an artisan silversmith...

During the Art-Deco period when Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel was at her peak as a Parisian couture designer in the early 1930s and working closely with her favorite jewelry parurier Fulco di Verdura, for one of her clients, she commissioned this unique handcrafted gem-fringed medallion brooch with a yellow-gold circle rope of flexible thick chain that dangles from an unseen ornate open-work curvilinear yellow-gold base. Marked only "FRANCE" on the bar pin with a trombone clasp, like some early 1930s Chanel couture jewelry collected by TheMet museum, its artistry reflects the colorful organic-form starburst sketches of Verdura, which you can see from our photo of one of them. The Sicilian duke began creating fabric patterns for Chanel in 1927, which shortly expanded to executing fine jewelry beginning with custom pieces for the house founder. These included 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. Chanel reproduced some of Verdura's originals for her clients, but those variations featured faux gems. This softly-shaped abstract brooch design suits goldsmith Verdura's early anti-Art-Deco aesthetic that was considered a radical departure from 1920s silver-tone geometric jewelry, which otherwise featured linear designs or figurative representation. The deconstructed bouquet of gems mixes amethyst and rose-quartz beads with natural Keshi pearls and intricate tiny gold leaves, which are discreetly wired to a Baroque-motif frame that dangles a round gem surrounded by a chain halo. Significantly, Verdura was credited with re-introducing since Victorian times the rope motif to fine jewelry. Since 1930, Verdura's unique style was influenced by travels with Chanel to explore Byzantine art, Baroque architecture, and the 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--with an abundance of teardrop pearls and colorful gems above her chest, and with a gold halo surrounding her head--could have inspired the design of our 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. Within five years, as a financially-backed in-demand goldsmith in the States, he founded the namesake fine-jewelry company Verdura in New...

Grosse brooch from 1968 composed of an open network of gold tone crownlike elements, each point terminating in a textured drop, and each circular groupin...

Strongly resembling the Harry Bertoia Foundation's archived c.1947 unsigned small brooch (D.JE.27) that is essentially an elegant hammered silver curvilinear three-humped squiggle by...

Unusual vintage necklace composed of a chain caught with a pearl at the hollow of the neck before it continues to down to a pierced medallion ...

Vintage double-strand medium length pearl necklace featuring a clasp of pearls and rhinestones that can be worn at the nape of the neck or on one side. the pearls are hand knotted an...

Signed "Schiaparelli" in script, this midcentury link bracelet features a textural leaves motif characteristic of costume-jewelry by the Parisian couturier Elsa Schiaparelli. Like ma...

While contracted since 1953 as an independent craftsman to create one-of-a-kind costume jewelry for French Masion De Gorce, Parisian goldsmith Robert Goosens (1927-2016) was initially commissioned there to craft for Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel unique Byzantine-style long decorative-chain necklaces with sculptural gilt-metal or faux-pearl charms, which would be layered to accessorize her couture clothing for herself and clients. As the commissions from the fashion designer for his work mounted, by the following year Goosens began working directly for Chanel at a mobile workshop--continuing to create unsigned couture pieces while establishing Maison Goosens. Although Chanel began signing most of the jewelry by the late 1950s, the exception until Chanel's death was most often the long chain necklaces with simpler clasps that were among a multi-chain set designed by Goosens. Suggesting that this is the case for our unsigned gold-gilt barrel-clasped sautoir, the cast foliate prongs that cap its pendant are strikingly similar to the cast lobed-leaf prongs of the textural pair of faux-pearl button earrings and a capped-faux-pearl pendant earring that are published in a close-up photo (see our snapshot) in Jewelry By Chanel, the book written by Patrick Mauries. The caption (adjacent page 97) dates those likewise unsigned Chanel pieces to 1954-1971 when only Goosens would have executed them with his lost-wax casting. A lost-wax-cast sautoir pendant with similar foliate prongs signed Chanel with three stars (couture) was auctioned by Christie's in 2000 among "A Group of Five Gilt Metal and Simulated Gemstone Necklaces, Chanel" in which one piece of the lot was unsigned. The house noted in its catalogue that the pendant necklace had been published earlier that year in the Editions Plume book (page 28), Bijoux de Haute Couture: Collection Robert Goossens by Gilles Plazy and Chantal Bizot. Also characteristic of Robert Goosens for Chanel...

This early Miriam Haskell lacquered shell, brass and wood decorated clip brooch was created by Frank Hess, her first designer since 1926. The circa 1930 brooch features three seashel...

These pink conch 14mm near-round natural pearl stud earrings, with early 20th Century clips stamped "sterling", each weigh 3 grams including mountings for an exceptional 10-plus cara...

Henry Schreiner, the Austrian-born blacksmith founder of Schreiner in New York in 1932, handcrafted this demi-parure of prong-set colorless crystal stylized foliage sprays after he b...

This couture French Maison Gripoix fabricated faux-sapphire-topped-pearl glass cluster brooch and clip-earrings set dates to around WWII, when Parisian fashion designer Elsa Schiapar...

All featuring white cat's eyes, the 21 gray 3mm ball-cut moonstones of this necklace are beaded symmetrically on this antique choker between stations of shiny 14-karat yellow gold fi...

On this antique early Art Deco period solitaire silver cocktail ring, a long rectangular mirror-cut black onyx is surrounded by 28 faceted marcasite stones. With a one-by-half-inch f...

Made in 1962 by Swedish Rune Tennesmed, this modern minimal sterling silver geometric brooch features a faux ruby poured-glass red cabochon, concave sheet metal, and openwork that forms two corners of the two-tier triangular brooch. This simple abstract design is characteristic of the rounded geometric shapes that framed his silvery pieces, while his early work sometimes included a pop of brightly colored glass. Tennesmed (1929-2011) was a 20th-century studio metalsmith, who changed his given name Carlsson to reflect his craft and his business name, which means "pewtersmith" in Swedish. This unusually elegant and sleek piece was made for Scandinavian Atelje Stigbert, which was recognized for producing modern jewelry designs in sterling silver and gold. The brooch was likely commissioned by the Stigbert workshop founder Stig Engelbert who died in 1962, before his artisan sons evolved the family business to be known as Engelbert. Recognized as one of the most significant and popular Scandinavian artists of the mid-20th century, Tennesmed revived ancient Viking...

Influenced by the Art Nouveau illustrations of Alphonse Mucha, this signed antique French enameled glass jewelry box display case is decorated wi...

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 ...

This antique 19th-Century Italian glass choker collar features a technically masterful link design like the distinct chandelier chains hand-crafted by the Seguso family, which founded Vetri d'Arte on the Venetian island of Murano centuries ago. In the style of elegant multi-pendant festoon necklaces from the mid-1800s, it dangles three one-inch drop pendants. The reddish pink mouth-blown glass balls with golden reflections are supported by brass findings. The closed links appear to be miniature versions of the jewelry design made famous in the next century by the family's descendant Archimede Seguso (1909-1999), whom Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel worked...

This antique French Belle-Epoque-period set incudes eight rare ball-cut moonstones beaded on a delicate gilt choker necklace and wire-hook dangle earrings for pierced ears. The necklace features two 12mm gilt-filigree-capped moonstones with atypical adularescence that glows as a sharply defined wide bluish-white circle below the surface. The pearl-like grayish-white moonstones are among beaded stations of cut-glass crystal that are spaced with tiny gilt balls. The matching earrings each feature a 6mm moonstone like the additional four on the necklace. The luminous moonstone beads look like quahog-clam pearls...

Robert Goosens, the French Chanel-favorite haute-couture parurier who enjoyed reinterpreting ancient and antique styles of jewelry with rock crystal and faux stones, also collaborated with Madame Alix Gres as one of our photos documents. Relevant to this statement necklace, the Parisian theatrical-costume designer, who founded the French fashion-house Maison Gres, commissioned Goosens to make spiral-wire adornments for her couture gowns. This handmade hammered brass wire choker necklace with five dropped entremblant pendants is decorated with unique colorful beads and wrapped wire. The piece dates between 1969-1971 based on similar unsigned spiraled-wire metal jewelry without goldsmithing marks in the museum collection of TheMet, which acquired the necklace that we photographed from Maison Givenchy founder Hubert de Givenchy, who was one of most supportive fans of Gres. Like the legendary sculptural clothing designs of Madame Gres, this necklace was inspired by Greco-Roman costumes, while its sculpted shapes by Goosens reference her signature curvilinear fabric techniques that earned her the sobriquet of "the master of the wrapped and draped dress". Goosens (1927-2016), nicknamed Monsieur Bijou, also made jewelry inspired by other periods of antiquity to compliment the couture clothing of Coco Chanel, Cristobal Balenciaga, Elsa Schiaparelli, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent. After Goosens collaborated with Gres, he revisited golden spiral designs with Saint Laurent. Similar to the free-flowing fabric manipulated in Gres gowns, this hand-shaped necklace that we photographed in sunlight is a study in motion that drapes across a curvy cleavage. Adding drama to this necklace below its wire choker, the top teetering-wire pendant is a twisted and hammered horizontal double spiral, which is a Hellenistic symbol of life and transformation suggesting the breasts of a goddess of fertility and motherhood. Yet distinctly Goosens, 18 hand-cut and hand-dyed "ancient-Roman-blue" rock-crystal beads are wire-strung to weight a second tier of two separate vertical double-spiral pendants. On each, a wrapped-wire tube divides the blue beads. Between these vertical pendants in two tiers, the central vertical pendants each feature a one-of-a-kind multicolor bead (yellow/blue/red/black/white) in two lengths with abstract organic patterns recalling ancient Italian glasswork. Four more blue beads bracket these larger colorful beads. An additional 10 blue beads and 5 wire tubes decorate the bottom looped wire pendant, as well as the bottom of the wire choker. Like the hammered-wire jewelry designs of modern artist Alexander Calder, the creative complex construction of this necklace surprisingly required no metalsmith techniques, such as soldering or casting, just great skill with a jewelry pliers and hammer. For a bigger picture of couture clothing by Madame Gres during the decade beginning in 1969, she notably designed many museum-collected one-color silk-taffeta draped long gowns with empire waists and simple high collars or geometric cut-outs. Remarkably, the focal points for some of these unique dresses were at the wrists, from where long pouf sleeves voluminously droop around the hands to nearly the floor like two enormous long-petaled flowers. If paired with this equally downward-focused and balanced necklace from this same period, its bold Greco-Roman elements would have pulled a viewer's gaze of the dress from floor to face. Although there is no significant provenance for this necklace, hammered brass and tinted rock crystal were among the few materials repeatedly associated with Goosens from 1969-71. For example, in his overlapping interior-decor collections based on themes of waterlilies or foliage, Goosens hammered gilt brass wire and sheets (see our final closeup photo) to represent plant parts or he wired rock-crystal beads to appear as tiny fruits. While the two multicolor glass or resin beads in this necklace are atypical, the combination of blue, yellow and red is a palette that the designer used for other pieces of rock-crystal jewelry and he created many kinds of multicolor faux stones with glass or resin paste, such as faux Tibetan turquoise including black and white. According to journalism based on interviews with Goosens, he often acquired unusual stones and glass for inspiration during his extensive travels exploring museum-collected antiquities. Since Maison Goosens was acquired in 2005 by Maison Chanel, it opened the Parisian showroom Galerie Goosens and associated shops to sell many kinds of reproductions and reimagined works by the founder, which fortunately does not suit the completely handmade elements of this necklace. So this couture piece remains one-of-a-kind. If desiring a vintage haute-couture original by Robert Goosens, we recommend perusing the Maison Goosens website so that a reproduction with a contemporary signature is not mistakenly purchased. Madame Gres (1903-1993) was born Germaine Emelie Krebs, but initially identified her fashion designs with the pseudonym Alix and later Alix Barton...

This antique French chain necklace with three-inch drop pendants features 33 natural citrines, including 16 polished teardrop and 17 faceted golden quartz beads. It was constructed b...

This 20th-Century Art-Nouveau style 18-karat white-gold-plated highly textural pendant features a prong-set abalone that is carved into seemingly overlapping flower petals in lustrou...

When fuchsia Burmese rubies were among the most expensive gems in the 1930s, Elsa Schiaparelli began to embrace the "shocking pink" color while designing couture clothing in Paris an...

From the Art-Deco period, this signed French couture set of yellow-gold pave-crystal brooch and earrings is marked in the manner of one-off costume jewelry commissioned...

Featuring handmade double-spiral filigree links, this vintage collar choker necklace was created by tightly twisting fine silver wire, which was ...

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...

Possibly as old as the 1800s or a later Baroque-revival imperceptible reproduction, this antique hand-crafted yellow-gold gilt-silver vermeil filigree-frame link bracelet with textured triple-chain fastening likely originated in the European region of Austria, Hungary or Germany. We partly base this on its brilliant blue-green glass jewels in the rare trace-mineral saturated color of authentic alkaline Columbian emeralds. Including a decorative box-clasp, the ornate bracelet also features 14 prong-set round white pearls mostly mounted on the open-work filigree and 6 marquise-cut vanadium chrysoberyl...

On par with Castellani goldsmithing since the mid-1800s, which revived ancient Etruscan techniques admired for their highly intricate and ornate gilding and metalwork, these masterfu...

Vibrant crystal beaded choker composed of four strands of faceted round yellow crystals in front and two strands in back, separated by quarter-round spa...

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-green matte Bakelite. Hanging 13-inches from the back of the neck, the long necklace is constructed with elegant double-ring links, while it fastens with a large toggle and decorative bar. Each end of the toggle bar resembles stacked balls, recalling the oval-cartouche stacked-cannonball signature of German jeweler chain-specialist Jakob Bengel, who founded his business in Idar-Oberstein in 1873. Due to WWII, the Bengel factory, which is now a museum, permanently closed. His pre-1940 unsigned designs were largely overlooked until his factory catalogues were rediscovered decades later, which enabled 21st Century books to be published about one of the leading manufacturers of Art-Deco costume jewelry. Bengel pieces without the cartouche can be distinguished by thin metal chain links combined with single or bi-color Bakelite pendants in repeating geometric shapes like balls, semi-circles, rectangles, bars, rings or ribbed texture. As Germany was the first country to license Bakelite for factory production since the 1910s, during the next 20 years its costume-jewelry designers began to feature locally-produced colorful Bakelite instead of glass or early semi-synthetic plastics. Between the world wars during poor economic conditions in Germany, its jewelry producers who were manufacturing for export were not motivated to stamp their country on such products. The design of this Bakelite-charm necklace seems inspired by one-of-a-kind chunkier-chain charm necklaces commissioned for couture clothing ensembles by international fashion leader Parisian Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel. She only produced her trend-setting commissioned jewelry...

Accented by delicate emu feathers, this couture French silk chiffon flower brooch or hat pin was painted, cut and appliqued by hand to appear like a large rose. It was acquired in Fr...

Featuring five intricate rose-flower charms, Krementz finished this chain link bracelet with its characteristic multi-color gold gilding, which is known for being as much as 30 times thicker than the overlay of other jewelry companies as a testament to the enduring quality of its designs. The elegant textured linked shapes and flowers recall the Art- Nouveau style that distinguished the earliest designs by Krementz for women in the 1920s. The brand signature is on the fold-over clasp. As three pieces of this listing, the excellent-condition bracelet comes with its original signed green-velvet...

Acquired in France and featuring French studio-artist Andree Bazot's signature technique of topping free-formed layers of polychrome enamels fused on textural foiled plaques with a d...

Inspired by folk embroidery, filigree jewelry during the Georgian period transformed in the early 1800s into labor-intensive cannetille, like this antique handmade intricately woven ...