Kaleidoscope effect

Sun-face gold plated brooch with rhinestones. 7 cm. 1990s. The Icing vintage costume jewelry

The Icing vintage costume jewelry
The history of The Icing jewelry brand began almost 36 years ago in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded in 1987, The Icing Inc. (alternatively known as The Icing of Delaware) changed owners and location in 1994. In 1994 The Icing Inc. was registered in Illinois as a retail store providing fashion clothing and accessories for women.
Owned by Claire’s Boutiques, Inc. (in operation since 1956), the company achieved great success and expanded its business. Today, Icing is a global brand with hundreds of accessories and jewelry stores in the US and around the world.
Noteworthy, made in the 1980s and 90s and hallmarked with the stylized word “The Icing”, costume jewelry by this brand is rare and collectible.
Read more »

Bow brooch that can form two brooches, pendants and bracelet. Platinum, gold, diamonds. Signed ‘MONTURE CARTIER’. Petit Palais museum. French jewelry designer Charles Jacqueau

French jewelry designer Charles Jacqueau
The name of the French jeweler Charles Jacqueau (1885-1968) is inextricably linked with the legendary Cartier brand. Before entering the world of high jewellery art, the young Jacqueau studied in the Bernard Palissy school and then at the school of arts and crafts. 24-year-old Charles began his career in the prestigious Cartier jewelry house in 1909 and worked there until his retirement.
In search of ideas for inspiration, the designer traveled extensively, including to Russia, where he studied the works of Faberge and admired Russian ballet. He immortalized his impressions of his trips in drawings and notes, which are now kept in the Petit Palais Museum in Paris. Called “the Picasso of jewellery design”, Charles Jacqueau was not only a talented designer, but also an innovative engineer. He developed intricate designs to transform and adjust the jewels. So, for example, a brooch could become a bracelet, and a necklace with pendants could be worn as earrings, a bracelet and a brooch. Feeling the influence of the Eastern Empire, he created decorations in the form of “garlands”, tiaras and necklaces in the Mongolian style. Thus, his creations move and live beyond the two dimensions drawn on paper.
Read more »

Textured gold tone swirl design brooch. 6.5 cm. 1980s. Gil d Agena vintage costume jewelry

Gil d Agena vintage costume jewelry (1985-2004)
The history of the Gil d’Agéna jewelry brand began in 1985 in Toul, a suburb of Meurthe-et-Moselle in northeastern France. A small team of jewelers handcrafted high-quality bracelets, brooches, necklaces, pendants and earrings in modernist, classic and haute couture styles. Traditionally, craftsmen used bronze, gilding and silvering, as well as rhinestones, mother-of-pearl, resin and art glass imitating natural stones.
The markings on the oval cartouche included the full name of the brand Gil d’Agéna France and two letters GA in an oval. Also, some jewelry was sold with an attached foil tag with the brand’s logo. Incorporated in January 1985, Gil d’Agena Ltd. ceased to exist in June 2004.
Read more »

Native American motif gilt brass and stone brooch. Early 20th century. George Steere Art Nouveau Jewelry

George Steere Art Nouveau Jewelry
Between 1890 and 1910, the Art Nouveau movement flourished throughout Europe and America, profoundly influencing many forms of art—posters, furniture, architecture, ceramics and jewelry. Among the most notable Art Nouveau’s jewelry designers of the time was George Nathaniel Steere.
Based in Pawtucket, Providence County, Rhode Island, George N. Steere Co. produced exquisite creations of timeless appeal. The design included stylized Egyptian, floral and animal forms with mythological dragons, lizards, bats and birds “holding up stones”. The designer signed his earlier jewelry items with stamp GS, and later GNS, which stands for George Nathaniel Steere.
Noteworthy, George Steere was the treasurer of the George N. Steere Co., while Frank T. Barton was the president of the firm.
According to the Jewelers’ Circular Weekly 1900, the firm had Steere’s Specialty Shop, located at 381 Main St., Pawtucket. The store offered high grade jewelry novelties, hatpins and similar articles. Special music, flowers, souvenirs and exquisite decorations attracted large crowds to the store. In addition, George Steere was erecting a new factory building on Commercial St., Pawtucket, the land, which Charles G. Bloomer leased to him for 10 years at $50 per year.
George N. Steere sold his company in the 1910s. Today, his jewelry is highly collectible.
Read more »

Closeup. Vermeil, citrine and peridots ring from ‘Architectura’ series, 2005. French jewelry designer Jean Boggio

French jewelry designer Jean Boggio
Born in 1963 in Algeria, French jeweler Jean Boggio became known for his monumental and intriguing rings inspired by fairy tales, legends and childhood dreams. His design combines elements of Gothic architecture, church reliquaries with fabulous animals and nature. Starting to create jewelry at the age of 17, Jean opened his first jewelry workshop in 1984 in Lyon. Four years later, the designer showed his “palace rings” at the Grand Palais in Paris, which brought him success and recognition.
He makes museum pieces with miniature eighteenth-century sculptures of kingdoms, tiny bridges and castles, embodied in rings, brooches, earrings and bracelets. The designer uses precious metals and stones – gold, silver, emerald, citrine, ruby, onyx and others.
According to Jean Boggio, he is “an artist who tells stories with his hand” and not a designer, because he works in a team, often with local craftsmen.
Since 1990, he has been interested in arts and crafts, starting to create luxurious household items – lacquered boxes, silverware, elegant vases and furniture using various materials – metal, porcelain, glass, wood, etc.
Jean Boggio is a jewelry designer, artist and businessman who collaborates with famous French designers and factories. For more than forty years of creative activity, the artist has sold hundreds of his works at the most prestigious auctions.
Read more »

X-shaped bow brooch. Gold tone, rhinestones. 1980s. Signed ROM vintage costume jewelry

Signed ROM vintage costume jewelry (1976-1999)
The history of the jewelry brand ROM, founded by the Royal Ontario Museum, lasted a little over two decades, from 1976 to 1999. The Canadian museum, like most of the major museums in the world, produced replicas of art objects stored in the museum’s funds. In particular, paintings, sculptures, home decor items, silverware and jewelry. Registered in 1976, the trademark for the production of printed materials, decor and jewelry, “ROM” is no longer active. The brand’s logo included the word “ROM” with a crown on top.
In addition, the eponymous brand for the production of brooches, pendants, buckles, bracelets, necklaces, cufflinks and medallions was registered in the United States in 1993. This jewelry trademark ceased to exist in 1999.
Noteworthy, the markings on jewelry made in Canada and the United States are different. So, Canadian marking includes the word ROM with a crown on top and a copyright sign, and those made in the USA have the word ROM without a crown and a copyright sign. Exquisite jewelry, meticulously handcrafted from high quality materials, is a collector’s rarity today. There is no doubt that the purchase of a brooch or pendant marked ROM is a great success and happy acquisition for collectors of vintage jewelry.
Read more »

Flower brooch pin. Gold tone metal, multicolor art glass, faux pearl. 1980s. Revillon vintage costume jewelry

Revillon vintage costume jewelry
The world famous French brand Revillon began its history in the 18th century as a boutique selling fur products. At the height of its influence, Revillon was a full-fledged fashion house where the legendary Karl Lagerfeld began his career. In the middle of the last century, Revillon produced not only leather and fur products, but also perfumes and cosmetics. Like many perfume brands, Revillon came up with the idea of complementing their collections with jewelry. However, this did not happen until the 1960s, when thousands people worked in its Paris workshops and it was distributed in tens countries.
The manufacture of metal alloy products was diverse. In particular, medallions, belt buckles, compacts, pocket mirrors, cigarette cases, combs, chains, buttons, cufflinks, watch bracelets, jewelry boxes, tie clips and costume jewelry. Founded in Paris in the late 1970s by Revillon Luxe, the Revillon jewelry and accessories brand was registered in the US in 1987. Notably, by this time Revillon was owned by the Belgian brand Cora, which bought Revillon in 1982.
Costume jewelry marked with a stylized “R”, or “Revillon” is rare and coveted by collectors of vintage jewelry, as its production, which lasted a little over a decade, ceased in the late 1990s.
Read more »