Stylized figure Mick Milligan brooch. Stamped, corrugated and coiled metal of gold tone, crystal of rhinestone. 1970s length 15 cm. Vintage Zandra Rhodes costume jewellery

Vintage Zandra Rhodes costume jewellery
The history of ZR costume jewelry brand began in Paddington West London in 1969, founded by iconic English designer Zandra Rhodes.
Born 19 September 1940 in Chatham, Kent, British fashion designer Zandra Rhodes produced fashion collections, and bright costume jewelry. Her first eccentric collection of clothes, as well as handcrafted jewelry for it, appeared in 1969.
Noteworthy, such talented designers as Andrew Logan and Mick Milligan made jewelry for her clothing line. All ZR jewelry decorations demonstrate her bright personality, that collectors really appreciate. Zandra’s first big hit came in 1977 with holes and beaded dresses she created ten years before Versace.
In August 2011 she launched “Zandra Rhodes for Adele Marie” jewellery collection made in collaboration with Adele Marie London. The collection includes iconic textile designs made by Zandra in 1960s and implemented in jewellery.
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Cat catching a mouse brooch. 1970s. Filigree sterling silver. Jezlaine vintage costume jewellery

Jezlaine vintage costume jewellery
The history of Jez jewelry company, or Jezlaine trademark began in 1975 as a family business in a garage of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
According to its founder Robin McVey, she launched her business on the personal savings. “No bank would lend me money … Now, everyone is banging down my door. I could afford to.”
Noteworthy, the company’s craftsmen manufactured high quality silver jewelry by the method of artistic forging.
Traditionally, brooches, charms, pendants, earrings and bracelets were included into collections – “The Cats”, “Christmas”, “St. Valentine’s”, etc. The marking consists of “925 Jez”, or “Jezlaine Sterling”.
The company ceased to exist in 1999, when Sunstone Imports, located in Morton Grove, Illinois, acquired it.
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Fabulous butterfly vintage brooch, color rhinestones, gold tone metal, cabochons, signed. Robert De Mario vintage costume jewellery

Robert De Mario vintage costume jewellery

Founded in 1945 in New York, Robert De Mario company produced high quality costume jewellery with a careful study of details. The company ceased to exist in 1965. The short production period and the uniqueness of hand-made jewelry brought DeMario to the catalogs of rare and collectible vintage brands.
According to sources, De Mario worked as a designer for Miriam Haskell for several years, while other sources claim that he never worked for her.
De Mario emigrated from Italy to America in the 1920s, where he worked in jewelry enterprises of that time, including Mariam Haskell.
De Mario jewelry was a complex multilayered work, combinations of diverse components and materials. Among them – wood, gilding, natural and faux pearls, mother-of-pearl, and art glass imitating precious stones. The combination of natural wood, techniques of gold foil, and the use of rock crystal made great effect.
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Rare 1940s Flower Basket brooch. Rhinestone, Rhodium. Chicago based ORA vintage costume jewellery

ORA vintage costume jewellery
First, it was a creative duo of designers Oreste Agnini and Ralph Singer (Italian Raffaele Cantaluppi) who used the name ORA for their jewellery. Originally, they made the jeweled buttons and brooches for the Eisenberg line of clothing. But later, when they ended with Eisenberg, in 1920-1930s, they began producing jewellery known as ORA. The name of their Chicago based company which employed 200 people, was “Agnini & Singer”. Noteworthy, their earlier products didn’t have any mark on them. However, already in late 1930s they began marking their jewellery pieces with the brand name “ORA”.
According to some jewellery guides, the name ORA is a combination of the names Oreste and Ralph. But according to other sources, Ora in Italian means “hour”, and they advertised their jewellery as “Jewels of the Hour.”
Most often ORA vintage costume jewellery features various motifs, from music to Masonic, Art Deco design, with an abundance of crystals. And always ORA jewelers demonstrate high quality and creative design in their jewellery lines.
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In his films, the choice of jewelry design was not accidental. Most jeweled film director Alfred Hitchcock

20th century most jeweled film director Alfred Hitchcock
Undoubtedly, Hitchcock was the most “fine-cut” film director of the 20th century.
First, because in most of his films stylish precious stones appear. Second, due to the fact that the plot and playwriting of all his creations resemble well cut gems.
The son of the faithful London Catholics and a pupil of the Jesuit College of St. Ignatius, Hitchcock learned the values of painstaking work of which the Lord God himself exercises.
With amazing jewelry precision he worked out and carried out everything – from psychological collisions to building composition of the frame. Also, the most stellar and stylish ladies and gentlemen of the past embodied his ideas. Among them – Marlene Dietrich and Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly and Tippi Hedren, James Stewart and Gregory Peck, Carrie Grant and Sean Connery …
Ladies who are able to easily wear breathtaking diamond necklaces and pearl necklaces with natural ease. Men who could properly tie ties and gracefully use a gold-plated cigarette case.
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Gold tone faux pearl earrings, 1970s. Richelieu costume jewellery

Richelieu costume jewellery
Founded in the early 1880s, the company Joseph H. Meyer Bros Co., based in Brooklyn, New York, first used the brand known as Richelieu in 1882. Richelieu produced jewelry for both women and men, in a variety of styles, fashionable during the XX century.
Traditionally inexpensive, Richelieu jewellery became quite popular for its design with artificial pearls, as well as artificial coral. Most of the works of the Richelieu brand, which the collector can meet today, date from 1960-1970s. Richelieu jewellers carefully and masterfully made spectacular decorations of polished metal of gold tone with artificial pearls, clear crystal or colored cabochons. There are decorations with the use of antique metal, but they cost a little more.
In 1978, the Lisner jewelry house, led by David Lisner, bought this company. Accordingly, from that moment they began to label their costume jewellery Lisner-Richelieu. In 1985, the company completed its existence, leaving a stunning collection of jewelry made of Lucite, Austrian rhinestones Aurora Borealis, and rock crystal of high quality.
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A bee brooch. Jewelry alloy, vintage brass, cabochons, rhinestones. Size 6.2×2.8 cm. Nettie Rosenstein costume jewellery

Nettie Rosenstein costume jewellery
Born in 1890 in Salzburg, Austria, Nettie Rosencrans became famous American fashion and jewellery designer. Her parents moved to Harlem, New York while she was a young child. There, Nettie married businessman Saul Rosenstein who ran a women’s underwear business (1913).
Soon, under the surname of her husband she and her sister began career in the fashion world. First, it was a hat business. In the early 1930s, Nettie founded a new company, and significantly expanded the family business. Her company manufactured clothes, linens, bags, perfumes and costume jewelry. As a result, the talented designer received the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award for her collection in 1938.
Meanwhile, the designer’s creations grew in price, reaching hundreds of dollars, crazy prices for those times! Also, in 1947, Nettie received another prestigious fashion award – Coty Award. Noteworthy, in 1953 the designer created a dress for the first US lady for the inauguration ceremony of the president.
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