Jewellery Kaleidoscope

Pink and red cloisonne enamel flower design pin brooch. 4.5 cm. 1980s. Sea Gems vintage costume jewelry

Sea Gems vintage costume jewelry

Established in 1972, Sea Gems Ltd is a family business with 50 years of experience and three generations of jewelry designers. Based in Cornwall, UK, the designers get inspiration in Cornwall’s magnificent natural environment (home to the factory) of the ocean, gardens, flora and fauna, and a rich Celtic heritage. All products are of the highest quality, and the variety of collections provide everyone with individual self-expression.
Product markings include the abbreviation SG, or the full name Sea Gems UK with a copyright mark, or Celtic Sea Gems, depending on collection. Thus, Sea Gema features flowers, birds and wildlife, and Celtic collection includes ancient Celtic motifs with traditional Claddagh and knot designs.
Noteworthy, the products of this brand are similar to the jewelry of another English brand Fish & Crown, and if the product is not labeled, then it is almost impossible to distinguish these products. Indeed, both brands used hand-applied cloisonne enamel, rich and vibrant colors with a particular glossy sheen. Also, they use 14K, 16K, 22K gold or sterling silver plating. However, the labeling of these brands is different. In particular, Fish & Crown marking includes the image of a fish inside a crown, in accordance with the name of the company, Fish Enterprises UK and Crown Jewelry USA.
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Antique brooch. Gold tone metal, crystals. 6.5 cm. 1930s. Czechoslovakian vintage costume jewelry

Czechoslovakian vintage costume jewelry

One of the most important legends of bijouterie production in the Czech Republic, Brdyčka & Altman jewelry company belonged to the two family houses Brdyčka and Altmann. Brdyčka began to produce metal components for jewelry in 1908, and in 1913 the company started to produce unique jewelry. However, with the start of World War II, the company closed manufacture (1939). Traditionally, the products had markings: “Czecho”, “Czechoslovakia”, “SBK”, and some masters put their own letters.
All jewellery produced by Brdyčka & Altman are original masterpieces, wearable art made in the Czech Republic. Intricate brooches and necklaces, long earrings demonstrate very complex manual work, the complete absence of stamped parts and drilling. Art Deco and Art Nouveau motifs are very characteristic: ladies, floral motifs, pharaohs, buddhas, dragonflies, butterflies, sphinxes, scarabs, beetles, cicadas, dogs, birds, etc. Characteristic bright and saturated colors: blue, various shades of green, milky white, purple, lilac, and sky blue. In 1947 Brdyčka was arrested, the documents were destroyed, and the family left for Austria.
After the closure of the Brdyčka & Altman factory in Jablonec, small private jewelry workshops continued to work. They established Jablonex jewelry company in 1952 from these small businesses. More than 100 jewelers and 40 designers worked at the factory.
In the fall of 2009, Jablonec went bankrupt.
Vintage jewelry lovers and collectors value exquisite design and high quality Czech costume jewelry.
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1908 Brooch. Gold, rubies, moonstones, black pearls, amethysts, chrysoprase. Work by English jewelry designer John Paul Cooper (1869-1933)

English jewelry designer John Paul Cooper
This brooch is a major work by Cooper. Inspired by medieval and Celtic designs, the artist relied on stones and ornamentation to create a sense of exquisite wealth. It took Colarossi, Cooper’s main artisan 273 hours to make the brooch.
English architect, designer and metallurgist, John Paul Cooper is a leading figure in the British Arts and Crafts movement. Born into a wealthy Lester family, Cooper prepared himself for a writer career. Instead, he became a student of London architect John D. Sedding, a strong supporter of the ideas of John Ruskin and Henry Wilson, an architect with an interest in craft, especially metalwork and jewelry. Subsequently, Cooper joined the “Birmingham Group” and headed the metalwork department of the Birmingham City School of Art (1901-1906). He regularly appeared in exhibitions of the Arts and Crafts Society.
Cooper’s interest in jewelry design and manufacturing began shortly after his association with Wilson. Like Wilson, he ended up using others to fabricate his jewelry, although he sometimes did the chase and reposesé himself. Traditionally, he used gold, ruby, pearl, moonstone, amethyst and mother of pearl. Unlike many arts and crafts jewelry designers, Cooper often worked on his designs with multiple stones instead of designing and then finding the right gems. He once remarked that the stones should “… play on each other like two notes of music …”
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Flower brooch. 12K gold filled metal alloy, rhinestones. Sydney Berman vintage costume jewelry

Sydney Berman vintage costume jewelry
The history of Sydney Berman jewelry began in 1928, when 25-year-old Sydney founded his own jewelry company “Sydney Berman & Co Inc”. Located at 102 Canal St. New York, NY the company manufactured fine jewelry in the period of 1928-1950s. Traditionally, the goldsmiths of the company made 12 K, 14 K gold filled rings, brooches and bracelets in Victorian and Art Deco style. Also, they used natural gems, such as diamonds, turquoise, garnet, opal, aventurine and crystals. The marking on the back of each piece included stylized initials “SB” (the letter “B” turned back), and purity of gold – 12 K or 14 K. Now super rare, SB vintage handcrafted jewelry is highly collectible. Noteworthy, Dorothy Rainwater’s reference book “American Jewelry Manufacturers” (1988) mentioned SB jewelry.
American jewelry designer Sydney Berman (April 1903 – January 1, 1980, Palm Beach, Florida) was the son of Binen and Esther Berman.
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Christmas tree pin brooch. Gold tone alloy, rhinestones, enamel. 7 cm. 1960s. Signed Hedy vintage costume jewelry

Signed Hedy vintage costume jewelry

The skill of Armenian jewelers has always been famous all over the world and allowed them to survive in a foreign land. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Kheditisian family emigrated from Armenia to the United States. Their elder son Harry changed his surname to Hedison and founded Hedison Manufacturing Co. in Providence, Rhode Island in 1909. Thus, the history of the American jewelry brand Hedy began.
When his sons Harry, Jr. and H. David grew up, the company became their family business. After the death of the founder and chief designer of the company Harry D. Hedison in 1954, his eldest son David became the president of the company. In addition to costume jewelry and gold-plated items, the company produced a number of items made of precious metals. Like many jewelry companies, Hedison Manufacturing produced jewelry for other brands. The company ceased to exist in late 1970s (according to sources, in 1977).

Initially, the marking on the back included letter “H” in the heart, and after 1954 it was “Hedy” with the copyright sign. Traditionally exquisite filigree design, especially earlier pieces, the brand’s products also feature simple designs. In particular, bright enamel flower or animal pins and themed collections produced for the holidays. Handcrafted vintage costume jewelry of this brand is highly collectible now.
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Pagoda brooch pendant. Gold tone metal alloy, rhinestones, faux pearls. 13 cm. 1950s. Pauline Trigere vintage costume jewelry

Pauline Trigere vintage costume jewelry

French – American fashion designer Pauline Trigere (4 November 1912 – 13 February 2002) became famous for her original ideas, both in the design of models and in the creation of accessories. The New York Fashion Walk of Fame bears the name of this venerable woman. And even after her death, Pauline’s Fashion Houses are working in Europe and America with the same success.
Born in France to a family of immigrants from Russia, her father Alexander was a taylor and her mother Cecile – a dressmaker. Before the outbreak of World War II, the designer moved to New York with her husband and briefly worked at the Hattie Carnegie fashion house before opening her atelier. Noteworthy, she was the first female designer in the United States to actively use African American fashion models in her advertising campaigns. Hollywood stars, such as Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor, and elegant beauties of the 1950s and 60s, like Jacqueline Kennedy, shone in her jewelry, including the cast of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. She has combined a successful design career with an active teaching career at the Parsons New York School of Design. In 1992, she celebrated the 50th anniversary of her creative career, having won numerous top COTY (American Fashion Critics Award) awards and the CFDA Lifetime Achievement award during her lifetime. Pauline Trigere jewelry is a collector’s item. The designer worked in small editions, as she focused on creating clothing collections. The best examples of her jewelry are in private collections and the price for them will grow every year.
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Filigree Art Deco butterfly brooch. Brass, enamel, faux turquoise. 8 cm. 1920s. Max Neiger vintage costume jewelry

Max Neiger vintage costume jewelry
The Czech Republic is the birthplace of many talented world’s famous jewelry designers. Among them, the Neiger brothers, Max and Norbert, who created their collections for 35 years. The brothers were born and lived most of their lives in the Czech town of Jablonec, the center of technical glass and costume jewellery production in Bohemia.
Norbert, after graduating from the Jablonec technical school in 1905, was the first to start a business, and later his younger brother joined him. Norbert handled the economics and Max was the designer. After the First World War, they produced jewelry only according to Max’s sketches. The demand for their high quality and highly artisan jewelry was great in Europe and America.
The fame of the high quality and modern design of the Neiger brothers’ jewelry spread quickly. Sales of products and the number of new customers grew. In 1926, the brothers expanded their jewelry production and moved to new, more suitable premises. By this time, they already had two dozen employees.
Noteworthy, the Neiger brothers did not label the jewelry they produced. They saw no need for this. Besides, the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic, by a decree of October 14, 1920 required marking only for items made of gold and silver.
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