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I’ve always been nuts about jewelry, but my interest in vintage jewelry really began when I inherited a few pieces. I was fascinated with the designs and the techniques used to create them. I love old Czech pieces set with glass. I love the flow of the lines and the combination of materials used by many vintage designers. Some of my own work been inspired by “vintage ideas”.
Here three of my favorite designers – one of these days I’ll do an article on more vintage designers I love.
Eisenberg -Eisenberg started in Chicago in 1880 as the first “American” designer clothing company. The company manufactured jewelry to accent the clothing. During the 1930s and 1940s, Eisenberg & Sons was one of the best regarded manufacturers of costume jewelry. Prior to 1950, Eisenberg jewelry was designed for an upscale audience and was only sold in carefully selected stores. Rhinestone jewelry was very popular – both clear and colored, but the pieces with clear stones and marketed as Eisenberg Ice commanded a premium price. Authentic pieces of vintage Eisenberg jewelry can be identified by the mark: Eisenberg Original was used from around 1935 to 1945. Eisenberg and Eisenberg Ice were the names used from about 1945 to 1950. Some pieces dating between 1952 and 1970 have no marks at all.
Juliana D&E -Juliana pieces have lots of stones and very little metal Juliana jewelry was produced by Delizza and Elster. The DeLizza and Elster company was founded in 1947 and manufactured all sorts of elements and jewelry for well established costume jewelers – Hobe, Kenneth J. Lane, and Weiss. Over time much of the D&E jewelry in this style became known as “Juliana.” The tagged Juliana pieces were only produced for a couple of years in the late 1960s. Unless the paper hang tag is retained, most of these pieces are totally unmarked.
Hobe’ – Hobé Cie was founded in 1887 by goldsmith Jacques Hobé. The Hobe’ mark was first employed in 1926.
Jacques’ son, William, established an American branch of the company in 1927. Early on, William made costumes and jewelry for the Ziegfield Follies and a number of Hollywood stars favored Hobe’ designs. This celebrity connection during the 1950s boosted the popularity of Hobe’s rhinestone jewelry.
I’m trying to catch up after being out of the studio for about 12 weeks. This summer I will be completing a lot of pieces I started earlier. Last March I was working on a number of flower and plant designs. There are several different techniques I’m using to incorporate natural textures and lines in these pieces. There are repousse pieces too, including a bracelet and earrings in a leaf design. Once the work is completed, all of these pieces and others need to have their pictures taken.
You haven’t heard from me in a while now. Over the last several months I’ve had to deal with personal issues that have taken all my time. In April I had a hip replacement. I had expected to be back home in a few days, but there were complications and I ended up in the hospital for a prolonged period and required additional therapy. It’s going to more time before I can work on going up and down stairs.
Aurora red is a very bright scarlet that’s great with gold or silver
Marigold is a lush rich golden yellow – the perfect compliment for blacks, browns and neutrals
The shepherds hook style is very popular and the commercial ones are thin enough to go through some clear plastic “stoppers” which we also have. The stoppers have to be put on the wires after you have the earrings in place. My handmade ear wire styles include a lot of choices that are longer ear wires. Posts come in various styles. Posts with snuggly fitting clutches are pretty good, but I’d lost a number of those over the years, too.
Lever-back ear wires are one of my favorites and I have them in sterling silver and gold fill. People don’t seem to be familiar with this style, but these ear wires lock into your ear lobe and keep your pierced earrings secure.
An earlier blog post talked about the Pantone color palette for Spring 2016. I’m going to highlight several of the color choices of jewelry to accent your spring fashion wardrobe. In addition to the jewelry styles already on the website, I have a variety of beautiful stones and beads to create a variety of custom designs for Spring and Summer just for you.
Chalcedony – Long ago, I fell in love with the luminosity of aqua chalcedony – that glorious inner glow. Bluish or gray in its natural state, chalcedony is a cryptocrystalline quartz. It is porous and can be dyed a variety of colors
Labradorite– a form of feldspar. This stone has a metallic “shiller” or labradorescence in blue, green and sometimes red flashes that arise from interference effects of light interacting with defects in the crystal lattice. labradorite is widely used for jewelry and ornamental ornaments