Kaleidoscope effect

Smiling Sun vintage brooch pendant. 925 sterling silver, Mother-of-pearl, art glass. 4.4 cm. 1990s. Carolyn Pollack vintage costume jewelry

Carolyn Pollack vintage costume jewelry
Vintage brooch pendant “Burning Sun of Chile” created by designer and jeweler Carolyn Pollack. The unusual design of the brooch – the sun’s rays in the form of chili peppers and the shining face of a smiling luminary, carved from mother-of-pearl, make the jewelry spectacular and bright.
Carolyn and her husband Bill founded their company as a family business in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA in 1975. According to Carolyn, creating jewelry is truly her passion, and it is also their family business. Noteworthy, the company is still active. Signed with initials “CP” and 925 hallmarks all jewelry is traditionally made from 925 sterling silver, semi-precious stones, enamel and mother-of-pearl. Carolyn’s hand crafted jewelry is in high demand due to the high quality of materials and workmanship, as well as unexpected color combinations and original style.
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Bow brooch. 24 K Gold plated metal alloy. 1980s. Signed Gay Boyer vintage costume jewelry

Signed Gay Boyer vintage costume jewelry
There is little information about the founder of the jewelry company Gay Boyer Inc., or the costume jewelry designer who signed his decorations “Gay Boyer”. And this is strange, considering that we are talking about a famous New York designer who had been active for more than three decades before he retired.
According to my research, the company located at 19 W 36th St, Midtown West, New York, NY started producing exquisite costume jewelry in 1976. Traditionally, these are brooches, earrings, necklaces and bracelets made of gold-tone alloy or plated with 24 karat gold. Also, the craftsmen of this company used enamel, rhinestones, crystals, art glass, faux pearls and also semi-precious stones. Jewelry styles range from Art Deco and Etruscan to classic and animalistic style.
Noteworthy, the president of the company Gay Boyer retired in 2009, and the new owner and chief designer became talented and creative jeweler Lisa Harris. She renamed the company to Boyer New York and continued the tradition by producing fine costume jewelry using semi-precious stones. These products are successfully sold in the best boutiques and department stores.
But still, most desirable for lovers and collectors of vintage jewelry are pieces produced from 1970 to 2000 with the “Gay” marking.
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Tassel gold rope design brooch pendant. Gold tone alloy, black enamel, clear rhinestones. 1990s. Ivana Trump vintage costume jewelry

Ivana Trump vintage costume jewelry
Former fashion model, Ivana Marie Trump (nee Zelnichkova) was the first wife of the future US President billionaire Donald Trump. Their marriage lasted for 14 years. However, in 1991 Ivana and Donald divorced. After the divorce, Ivana enthusiastically began to develop her business in what was closest to her – the world of high fashion. As it turned out, it was successful.
Trump’s first wife founded two companies, launched a clothing line, perfume and costume jewelry. In 1992, Mrs. Trump founded her own jewelry company, Ivana, Inc. and the fashion house Ivana Haute Couture. On television, she had a special program through which she sold clothes, accessories and jewelry.
Produced in very small quantities, her decorations are traditionally eye-catching. All fine designer pieces are clearly labeled “Ivana” on the back side. Made of gilded jewelry alloy, decorated with art glass cabochons, rhinestones and imitation pearls, these decorations are collectible.
In the late 2000s, she passed on her brand to her daughter Ivanka Trump. Accordingly, its name was changed to Ivanka Trump. At the moment, the Ivanka Trump brand exists, but since 2018 engaged in political activities Ivanka herself has retired from business.
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Folklore scene silver plated hand forged cuff bracelet. 1930s. Hans Jensen vintage costume jewelry

Hans Jensen vintage costume jewelry
Aarhus Copenhagen based jewelry company “Hans Jensen and Co.” was active from 1899 – 1970. Danish jewellery company was a part of family business known for high-quality silver and silverplate jewelry. Traditionally, the company’s craftsmen made boxes, bracelets, brooches and decorative items for the interior. A distinctive feature of the design is hand forging and artistic engraving, which included floral motifs, folkloric scenes of village life. The company sold high quality silver products not only in Denmark, but also in most Scandinavian countries, such as Sweden, Finland and Norway. Hand crafted from 830 sterling silver, each item has marking H.J 830S.
Rarely found in the vintage jewelry market, HJ antique jewelry is highly collectible, the price of which will increase every year.
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Wave design brooch. Gold plated metal alloy, crystals. 5.8 cm. 1970s. Pierre Balmain vintage costume jewelry

Pierre Balmain vintage costume jewelry
Born May 18, 1914 in Saint-Gennes de Marienne, Pierre Balmain grew up in the atmosphere of creativity and fashion, since his mother was a style consultant. And his father was the owner of a small sewing factory. Since childhood, fascinated by the process of creating beauty, he was destined to become a designer.
Noteworthy, in 1939 Pierre studied the art of hand embroidery with glass beads in the workshop of Lucien Lelong. Also, he mastered the technique of working with rhinestones, gold, bronze and pearls embroidery, which became the signature style of Balmain.
Immediately after the end of the Second World War, he founded the eponymous haute couture house “Pierre Balmain” in Paris. The high-end fashion designer received worldwide fame and recognition.
However, in the 60s, the minimalist designer Yves Saint Laurent began to conquer all the best positions in the fashion world. In fact, the Balmain era passed. From the late 1960s the company began producing watches, perfumes and upscale luxury costume jewelry, which he created for two decades, until the 1980s. These awe-inspiring vintage decorations are rare and highly collectible.
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Delphine Nardin vintage costume jewelry

Delphine Nardin vintage costume jewelry
Bold in design, these earrings are striking in their textured surface, massiveness and relevance, although they were made in the 1990s.
Parisian self-taught jeweler founded her own trademark Delphine Nardin in 1989. The same year she created her first pieces, and now her works decorate the Museum of Art and Design in New York.
Before becoming a jeweler, Dolphin Nardin worked in geology and archeology gaining knowledge in the field of gemmology. An artist by vocation and nature, she saw beauty in the forms of stones, shells, sea glass and was later able to express this in her jewelry decorations. Handcrafted, they are unique and unlike any other designer. Minimalism in her jewelry is the desire of the jeweler to extract beauty from natural simplicity through experiments. According to Nardin, experimentation went from one to the other, and in the end, the materials shaped her style.
Traditionally the designer used metal alloys of gold and silver tone, sometimes gold plating and sterling silver. All items have a distinctive stamp on the back side – square frame with “Delphine Nardin Paris” in capital letters inside it.
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Leaf brooch. 835 sterling silver. 7.5 cm. Signed Teka vintage costume jewelry

Signed Teka vintage costume jewelry
The talented German jewelry designer Theodor Klotz registered his trademark Teka in 1939 in Pforzheim (jewelry capital of Germany).
Jewelry designs of this brand include various styles – from florals in the 1940s to modernist and abstract in the 1950s and 60s. Also, very popular were decorations in minimalism style, undoubtedly progressive in the 1970s. A fan of this style was Kevin Klein, who argued that minimalism is not a trend, but a lifestyle.
The markings on the back of the pieces include the word “teka” enclosed in a triangle and sometimes the fineness of silver – 835 or 925. Also, “handarbeit” (handmade) and “Laurin” (used from 1934 to 1938 as a guarantee of quality) signs.
Traditionally, the jewelers of this company used 830 or 925 sterling silver, less often gold and gilding. Along with rhinestones and crystals, the craftsmen used natural stones, such as zirconium, agate, amethyst, quartz, coral, etc.
Theodor Klotz’s firm ceased to exist in the late 1970s. High quality hand-made vintage Teka jewelry is collectible, the price of which will increase every year.
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