Chelsea vintage costume jewelry

Yellow and white enamel gold tone door knocker design dangle pierced earrings. 1980s. Chelsea vintage costume jewelry

Chelsea vintage fashion jewelry (1980s)
In the 1980s, Providence, Rhode Island and its suburbs was the largest jewelry manufacturing center in the US, producing 80% of fashion jewelry. Approximately 1,000 jewelry firms employed about 25,000 people. Notably, the “Made in USA” on the original card or paper tag with the decoration attached actually meant “Made in Providence”.
Although the 1980s was a period of boom in fashion jewelry, the biggest beneficiaries, when costume jewelry sold like hot cakes, were foreign companies located in East Asia – China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Korea. As a result, by the 1990s, thousands of jewelry workers lost their jobs, and hundreds of companies and jewelry stores in Providence closed. One of them was the jewelry firm and boutique Chelsea, which ceased to exist in 1991.
Made in the 1980s, Chelsea’s fashion jewelry, and in particular, large pierced enamel earrings, look amazing. No woman will go unnoticed in these earrings, covered with multicolored luminous enamel. A variety of designs and high quality workmanship make them desirable for lovers of vintage jewelry. The earrings are not marked on the back and were sold on the original brand cards.

Triangular shape red, green, cream and orange enamel stud earrings

Noteworthy, in the same 1991 Chelsea Wholesale Jewelry Co. Inc (established in 1946) at 64 W. 48TH street, New York, New York also ceased to exist. The company sold similarly designed pierced earrings on cards printed with the “Chelsea NYC” trademark. Most likely, the jewelry company from New York was selling jewelry made in its subsidiary in Providence.