Kaleidoscope effect

Pendant brooch. Plique-à-Jour Enamel, 18 Karat Gold, diamonds, black cabochon early 1900s. American Modern – Marcus & Co jewelry

American Modern – Marcus & Co jewelry
German born Herman Marcus came to New York in 1850 and began working as a designer in the famous company Tiffany & Co. However, after almost thirty years, he decided to leave the famous company in order to establish his own. Fortunately, his two adult sons supported their father and since 1884 the three of them have successfully worked at Marcus & Co. Fifteen years later, Herman died (1899), but his sons successfully continued to manage the jewelry company, already known both in New York and beyond.
Among the materials that they used to create the jewelry was multicolor enamel, precious and semiprecious stones. Traditionally, the jewelers of this company produced fine jewelry inspired by the culture of Egypt and the Renaissance, as well as the Art Nouveau style, popular in the early 20th century.
Noteworthy, Marcus & Co. jewelers studied the skill of enameling in the Paris workshop of the famous designer Rene Lalique. As a result, jewelry of this brand is rare, located in museums and are of collectible value.
Sold to Gimbels in 1941, the company merged with Black, Starr & Frost in 1962.
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Pink floral design brooch. Gold tone metal, crystals, faux coral cabochons. 1970s. Ellen Tracy vintage costume jewelry

Ellen Tracy vintage costume jewelry
The American company Ellen Tracy appeared in 1949, and Herbert Gallen became its founder. After some time, designer Linda Allard also started working for the company, It was Gallen himself who hired recent college graduate Linda Allard as a design assistant in 1962. And twenty-two years later, in 1984, her name became part of the company name.
At first, the brand was engaged in the production of blouses, but after a few years the product range was replenished with evening dresses, shoes and accessories, and then perfumes.
Stylish and beautiful accessories such as watches, jewelry and bags became part of the images offered by the company’s designer. As the jewelry production of this company was very limited, gradually, it turned into a collection item. Noteworthy, the company still exists, continuing the evolution of the brand.
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Owl brooch. Gold tone jewelry alloy, gold plated, ivory tone enamel. Lind-Gal Inc vintage costume jewelry

Lind-Gal Inc vintage costume jewelry
Costume jewelry of this brand is rare in the market of vintage costume jewelry. Also, information about this brand is very scarce. According to sources, the company created in 1952 in New York, supposedly existed until the end of the 1980s, since products of a later period are not found. Traditionally, the jewelers of this company used metal alloys of gold and silver tones. Also, there are jewelry pieces made of sterling silver and 14 carat gold. Often, when creating many jewelry, designers used ceramics and hand-painted enamels. Noteworthy, all decorations have a distinct mark on the back side. It includes the copyright mark and initials LG, or the same LG mark and letters in a heart-shaped frame.
One of the designs of this company was a touching series of humanized animals, released in the 1950-60s. Among these sad and cute animals carrying a sack on a stick are a turtle, a dog and an elephant. According to belief, Lind Gal loved cats, that’s why we can see this animal in various designs of his figurative brooches.
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Gold Key brooch of gold tone. Made in 1960s. Signed JOY vintage costume jewelry

Signed JOY vintage costume jewelry
First of all, there is not much information about the company which produced jewelry decorations with marking JOY. However, some researches based on the facts and technique let me suppose JOY decorations may relate to Lester Joy. Talented innovative designer Lester Joy was among the founders of Les Bernard (1963), a pioneer in the field of costume jewelry of high class design. Most of these decorations are made in the 1950s, early 1960s, just before the appearance of Les Bernard in 1963.
Traditionally, Lester Joy used Plique a Jour techinque, poured faux stained glass, or stained glass resin, which, in combination with the gold surface formed an unusually beautiful duet. Made in a variety of styles, Joy vintage decorations are all of high quality and are quite rare in the vintage jewelry market.

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Marlin fish brooch. Gold tone, enamel, crystals. 1999. Plainville Stock Co vintage costume jewelry

Plainville Stock Co vintage costume jewelry
The history of “Plainville Stock Co” began in August 1886 in Bristol, Massachusetts. According to other sources, the company has been in business since 1874. However, the last mention of the company was in 2008, and highly likely the company ceased to exist. Also, the website of the company (plainvillestock.com) with possible information is not available any more.
The company managers renewed P.S. Co four times, including 17 July 1905, 1931, 14 March 1962, and the fourth renewal in 1968. Accordingly, the list of company founders includes several people. Among them Daniel H. Corey, Edward P. Bennett, Albert W. Burton, William H. Rogers, David Reed, Bradford Corbin and more.
Located in East Taunton city of Bristol, P.S. Co produced excellent quality silver plated and 10K gold filled jewelry. In addition to precious metals and their alloys, the jewelers of the company used precious stones, glitter in enamel, multicolor crystals and rhinestones. Traditionally, the marking on the back side of any decoration included the initials P.S. Co, sometimes with “gf” (gold filled).
Their official listings included jewelry for personal wear and adornment. Namely, earrings, pendants, crosses, lockets, tie tacks, pins, brooches, and rings. Their older, vintage items are certainly well worth searching for and collecting.
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Haute Couture brooch. Gold tone jewelry alloy, enamel. 1980s. Jaсques Esterel vintage costume jewelry

Jaсques Esterel vintage costume jewelry
The name of Jacques Esterel (June 5, 1917 – April 14, 1974) is almost forgotten today. However, in the arsenal of this fashion designer of the 50-60s there was everything from the first bald model in history to the uniform for the French Olympic team. Also, from showing a unisex style with men’s skirts to the iconic Bridget Bardot wedding dress. The world of the designer was the world of fashion, show business and cinema. Jacques Esterel once dressed Catherine Deneuve, Brigitte Bardot, Liz Taylor, Claudia Cardinale, Michelle Morgan, Francoise Hardy and many other celebrities.
According to critics, for him, fashion was first of all an entertainment, a game. However, he also made fashion for everyone to be accessible to all women. So, in addition to clothes he created accessories and designed Haute couture costume jewelry. Traditionally, his jewelry pieces are made of gold tone metal and enamel, and have a distinctive marking on the back side.
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Hound brooch. 1945. Designer Nicholas Barbieri. Sterling silver, enamel. Uncas vintage costume jewelry

Uncas vintage costume jewelry
Founded in 1913 by Italian born Vincent Sorrentino (1892-1976), The Uncas Manufacturing Co. has become the legend in the world of costume jewelry. Located in Providence, Rhode Island, the company became known as “America’s Largest ring house”. According to advertising by the company itself (“Jewelers Circular Keystone”, September, 1948) it produced costume jewellery, novelties, and plastics.

As for Uncas Manufacturing Co., Vincent Sorrentino first registered the Sorrento company in 1911 in Providence, Rhode Island. Of course, the earliest Sorrento jewelry is difficult to find now and they are a collectible rarity. However, in the early 1920s, Sorrentino renamed his company into Uncas Manufacturing Co. Noteworthy, the Sorrentino family still continues the jewelry business.

Nicholas Barbieri was a designer of novelties for Uncas from 1937 to 1948. Traditionally, the designers used sterling silver, sometimes 12 K gold, marcasite, multicolor enamel, rhinestones. Also, they signed their decorations with Uncas arrow U, and sterling.
As for the markings, first it was the trademark was “U-arrow” with the logo made up of a U with an arrow going through it. The letters DCE appeared later, in 1950, when Curtis creation jewelry manufacturing co began working for Uncas.
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