Eugene costume jewelry

Eugene costume jewelry is rare and highly collectible, the company existed 1952 – 1962. Hand-made, beautiful design – level of performance comparable to Haskell jewelry. Eugene was born in the United States. His father, August Schultz, emigrated to New York before the First World War. August was the doctor of chemical sciences, working in Bayer aspirin, he and his wife had two sons, Charles and Eugene. Eugene was born in 1911 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and his brother Carl was born two years later. In 1916 the family moved to Closter, New Jersey. Eugene’s mother, Elizabeth Duvall Schultz was one of the first successful female real estate agents in New Jersey. Eugene graduated from the School of Design and worked as costume designer for Broadway shows in the 20s-30s. In the 30s, Eugene worked at Cartier on handmade Christmas greeting cards.

Barbara Schultz, his niece, told that her uncle was an incredibly good-looking – tall brunette with blue eyes and a charming smile. He was always smartly dressed, and many thought he was a Hollywood star.

During the Second World War, Eugene served in non-combat units of the US Army and was in Hawaii. His family told that after the war he worked in the house of Miriam Haskell creating Costume jewellery, although no records of Haskell show it ….

In 1952 he founded his own company, Eugene Jewelry with a small showroom on Madison Avenue. Soon Eugene Jewellery was already sold in such famous luxury stores like Henri Bendel, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks on Fifth Avenue in New York, Neiman Marcus in Dallas and Boston’s most elegant stores. Eugene also created decorations for some shows, for example, Perry Como show.

Eugene Schultz passed away on Thanksgiving Day in 1964, two years after his company had ceased to exist.

Scott Byers, the son of Eugene Schultz’s nephew, was a collector and keeper of history of Eugene jewelry brand. According to him, Eugene has created some jewelry, not signed, for Miriam Haskell at the beginning of her career. According to the stories of other people who worked at Haskell House, Eugene never worked there. Nobody knows what is true, but it is clear that Eugene decorations were influenced by the work of Frank Hess, designer of Miriam Haskell.

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