Kaleidoscope effect

Heart brooch pin. Textured gold plated metal alloy, rhinestones. 5 cm. 1980s. Signed Venue vintage costume jewelry

Signed Venue vintage costume jewelry
Beautiful vintage haute couture pieces labeled “Venué USA” have their own unique design. The most characteristic of it is the delicate filigree work, where each piece shows carefully elaborated ornamental and floral patterns. Exquisite and elegant, classic-style jewelry can be a good addition to any vintage jewelry collection. Traditionally, the company’s craftsmen used metal alloy, pewter, as well as gilding and silvering, faux pearls, art glass imitating natural stones, crystals and rhinestones. By the way, French word “Venué” means “Arrival”. Everything about this jewelry is flawless, except for its history, which remains a mystery.
According to scant information, the company operated for a short period of time, no more than a decade, around the 1980s. Unfortunately, there is no information about the registration of this trademark, or patents, or the founder and owner of the company.
The eponymous company VENUE USA, INC. (owner Gordon Scott Warren) incorporated in December 2009 in Florida is still active. However, the company activities have nothing to do with the jewelry business. Besides, it is sometimes possible to revive the dead trademark of another business.
There is also a Venue Jewelry store in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, founded in 1992, but it is not known if it is related to the Venué USA jewelry brand.
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Geometric design natural gems sterling silver pendant. 1960s. Wiggers Handmade Denmark vintage jewelry

Wiggers Handmade Denmark vintage jewelry
The history of the Danish jewelry company Wiggers covers a fairly short period of the 1960s. Perhaps this is the reason for the lack of information about the company and its founder. However, the Copenhagen-based company was a renowned manufacturer of tableware in teak. Early 1960s Wiggers made teak kitchenware for Copenhagen firm Illums Bolighus owned by Danish entrepreneur Kaj Dessau. Wiggers artisan teak kitchenware included salad bowls, ice buckets, pepper and salt stands, matchboxes, and other items. Sold at the most prestigious auctions, these items are now collectible.
In addition, the company produced high-quality handcrafted jewellery in a modernist and avant-garde style, dominated by geometric designs. Traditionally, the company’s craftsmen used silver, silver plated pewter, gold and metal alloys. Also, semi-precious stones – moss agate, amethyst, quartz, amber, carnelian, zircon, rock crystal and even rough natural stones that look like pebbles. The marking on the back of each item includes “Wiggers Handmade Denmark”, without the copyright mark.
Jewelry created by Scandinavian company Wiggers is rare and highly collectible.
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Conch Shell sterling silver pin. 1950s. William Spratling vintage silver jewelry

William Spratling vintage silver jewelry

Legendary American silver designer and artist William Spratling (1900-1967) was a huge influence on the revival of Mexican silver design in the 20th century. An architect by training, Spratling began rebuilding Taxco’s silver industry in 1931. Initially, he created silver items from pre-Columbian and traditional motifs. In founding his workshop, Taller de las Delicias, he hired local jewelers to implement his designs in silver. Already at the end of the 1930s, more than 500 artisans worked in his workshop. His pieces were sold through the Montgomery Ward catalogs, as well as on Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. Noteworthy, he marked his earliest works with interlocking initials WS.
In the 1940s Spratling in partnership with Victor Silson of New York manufactured silver plated jewelry. Accordingly, the marking of this period includes Spratling of Mexico Silson Inc and initials WS. In mid-1940s, he sold most of the shares to Russell Maguire, which eventually led the company to bankruptcy.
However, Spratling rebuilt his workshop in Taxco and began producing silver jewelry and decorative objects in 1952.
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Fish pendant. Gold plated metal alloy, artglass, rhinestone. 1990s. Yochi NY vintage costume jewelry

Yochi NY vintage costume jewelry
The history of the Yochi Design fashion jewelry brand began over 24 years ago in New York. The founder of the company Yochi Rettig Neman was born in Israel into a family of florists. Since childhood, she was introduced to the art of making bouquets and understanding the harmony and beauty of flowers. It was this understanding that led her to dream of becoming a jewelry designer. In the early 1990s, she moved to New York to study at university. The lifestyle, fashion and bustle of the city inspired her to fulfill her dream. She founded her company Yochi, Inc. in 1997. Later company names included Yochi Design, Inc. and Wild C.J. Accessories of New York, Inc.
The jewelry business of a talented and distinctive designer is a success story with many fans, including celebrities from all over the world.
Handcrafted in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Yochi’s high-quality jewelry is an exquisite antique look vintage that can be inherited. Traditionally, the designer uses semi-precious stones and 22-carat gilded brass, as well as lucite and artglass that imitates gems.
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‘A Family is Love’ vintage pin. Cynthia Webb Designs pewter jewelry

Cynthia Webb Designs pewter jewelry

American jewelry company Cynthia Webb Designs Inc. began its activity as online and retail store in 1992. Its founder is San Diego California based artist Cynthia Webb. Her inspirational designs feature traditional values – family, love, religion, mercy, and support for those in need. Made by hand, each ornament is unique. Noteworthy, a characteristic feature of her work is that the pattern and details are visible on both sides of the jewelry. In addition to maker’s mark, most pieces have a message written on them. For example, “connected by Love”, “Perfect Union”, etc.
Initially, the company manufactured various gifts and ornaments made of pewter and wood. In particular, wall plaques, holiday ornaments, key chains, decorative crosses, dishes, decorative nativity scenes, figures, and other items. Also, the company’s artisans handcrafted jewelry decorations made of fine pewter, shell, amber, mother-of-pearl, and plastics.
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Christmas Tree brooch pin. Copper tone pewter, rhinestone. 1960s. Signed J Ritter vintage costume jewelry

Signed J Ritter vintage costume jewelry
Phoenix Arizona based jewelry company J. Ritter Co. was a family business of John Ritter (1916-2004) and his German born wife Margaret K. Ritter (died 2011). Married in 1943, the couple settled in Schenectady, NY.
John Ritter worked for the renowned Eastman Kodak Co. for the production of everything related to photography. However, they both decided to move to Scottsdale, falling in love with the desert landscapes of the southwest. It was there that John and Margaret founded their company J. Ritter. The business was very successful and the company supplied jewelry to the largest stores in the Southwest for two decades.
Founded in the 1960s, the company ceased to exist in the early 1980s. Traditionally, the company’s craftsmen used metal alloys, as well as gold, silver, crystals, and art glass imitating precious stones. The markings on the back of the products include the full name of the company J.Ritter and a copyright sign. John had registered patents for nearly all of his designs, according to the official US Patent Office newspapers of the 1960s and 1970s. Most notable of them were Roadrunner and Cactus pins patented in 1965.

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Ruby red crystal gold plated heart stud earrings. 1980s. Balenciaga vintage costume jewelry

Balenciaga vintage costume jewelry
Founded by the Basque fashion designer Cristobal Balenciaga (1895-1972), Balenciaga is a legendary fashion house with a century of history. Cristobal ended his career in 1968 and closed fashion houses in Paris, San Sebastian and Madrid. However, after his death, his fashion house continued to exist, having gone through a change of owners. Thus, the production of ready-to-wear clothes, perfumes, and accessories under license continued.
At one time, many of the designers who worked at the Balenciaga house later opened their successful fashion houses. Among them, in particular, were Oscar de la Renta (1949), André Courrèges (1950), Emmanuel Ungaro (1958), and Hubert de Givenchy.
Traditionally, most Parisian fashion houses of the 1980s created bijoux for their shows, as well as for the release of perfumes, or for opening boutiques. And Balenciaga was no exception. Although the history of Balenciaga jewelry began in the 1950s, yet, officially it lasted no more than two decades, from 1981 to 2003. Paris-based company Balenciaga, S.A. registered 2 trade marks of the same name – for the production of glasses and accessories in 1976, and for the production of luxury costume jewelry in 1981. Authentic Balenciaga matte gold plated jewelry, so characteristic of 1980s French luxury costume jewellery, are very collectible now.
Noteworthy, such well known jewelry companies as Maison Gripoix and Orena Paris made jewelry for Balenciaga.
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