Kaleidoscope effect

Gatsby girl Art Deco brooch pin. Faux pearls, rhinestones, hand painted porcelain. Elvira Jackie porcelain face vintage brooches

Elvira Jackie porcelain face vintage brooches
Miami, Florida based family owned company Originals by ELVIRA & JACKIE CORP began its activity in the 1970s and ceased to exist in 1997. Its president was Ulises Pino, treasurer Elvira Pino and secretary Jacqueline Causer, according to official records filed in 1987.
Although the company operated for no more than two decades, it created memorable unique pieces that are collectible today. Traditionally, the craftsmen of this company used porcelain, rhinestones, plastic, art glass and faux pearls. Also, they manually painted delicately shaped faces – red lips, black eyebrows, wonderful eyes lined with lashes and a splash of blue eyeshadow… These beautiful female faces resemble the style of the great Gatsby girls of the Art Deco era. Noteworthy, all these vintage pieces have a distinctive markings on the back “Elvira and Jackie”.
Read more »

Little Witch brooch Lehman design. Hard plastic, handpainted. Fun World Division vintage holiday pins

Fun World Division vintage holiday pins
This Halloween 2 inches tall pin belongs to the American company whose logo is Fun World For All Seasons. Indeed, for all seasons, as all jewelry lines created by this company celebrate our favorite holidays. Halloween, Christmas Day, New Years day, St. Valentine’s Day, Easter…
The history of the company begins in 1959 when Sam Rosenberg set up his own business before retiring. At the age of 59, he founded the S. Rosenberg Christmas company, importing Christmas and Easter souvenirs and dolls from Japan. However, in April 1963 his son-in-law Stanley Geller became the new owner of the company. He renamed the company Funworld Easter Unlimited and began working with factories in Japan, followed by Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The main designer of the company in the 1970s-1980s was S. Lehman, whose name is often stamped on the back side of the decorations. Also, the signature includes the country of manufacture – China and trademarks, for example, “© FUN WORLD DIV CARLE PLACE N.Y., “© S. LEHMAN”. Made of hard plastic, handpainted with the use of glitter and acrylic, the pins are considered collectible. Noteworthy, most of these sweet decorations come in a gift box ready for gift giving or keeping.
Read more »

Flower on a leaf brooch. 925 Sterling silver, green and white enamel. Work by Norwegian jeweler Karl A Rasmussen

Norwegian jeweler Karl A Rasmussen
Lovers and collectors of vintage and antique jewelry know modernist designs created by a Norwegian silversmith Knut Andreas Rasmussen. However, they know it as Karl A. Rasmussen, the company founded by Knut, which had been active for about about 90 years.
Having worked as goldsmith apprenticeship in Ålesund, Knut moved to the capital city of Oslo in 1861 where he changed his profession. Luckily, in 1872 he returned to jewelry craftsmanship, and his filigree designs enjoyed great success those days. Traditionally, Knut signed his modernist design pieces “Norway sterling 925 SZ”, or “Karl Made in Norway” and 925 sterling. The master used 925 sterling silver and blue, green or white enamel.
In 1901, his son Edvard Julius Rasmussen (1866-1927) continued the family business. Noteworthy, Karl A. Rasmussen ceased to exist in the 1960s.

According to the information on the website rasmussen.ee, K.A. Rasmussen LLC was revived in 2000. In fact, it is a different company, which belongs to a Scandinavian group, the largest producer and seller of precious metals. Also, the company is engaged in the import and wholesale of precious metals: gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
Read more »

Moon brooch. Gold, silver, diamonds, matte rhinestone. A. Holming’s workshop. St. Petersburg, 1908-1917. 4.5 cm. Carl Faberge jewelry masterpieces

Carl Faberge jewelry masterpieces
A jeweler by birth, a manager by vocation, Carl Faberge was born in St. Petersburg in 1846 among precious metals and precious stones. He inherited his father’s jewelry production and raised the family business to unprecedented heights.
For three decades, Carl Faberge remained on the crest of popularity. Among his regular clients were the Bulgarian king, the Austro-Hungarian heir, the kings and queens of England, Italy, Spain, Greece, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, as well as the king of Siam named Chulalonghorn.
The Winter Palace had a special pantry with a stock of ready-made gifts from Faberge. In fact, the imperial family traveled a lot and on the way gave away tons of various items with the brand of the company. For example, the Emperor of Japan was presented with a punch bowl, two candelabra, an agate vase, a silver set (a decanter with 12 glasses on a tray) and a matte gold Louis XV style hand mirror. The Chinese bogdykhan received two tiaras, a crystal thicket with a chased silver rooster, three silver vases with crystal inlays, two crystal decanters and a hairpin for a hat with a ruby ​​and diamonds.
Every day between 4 pm and 5 pm the grand dukes came to house number 24 along Bolshaya Morskaya to see what new Faberge had put up for sale.
Read more »

Coral opal and diamond Cocktail Ring. 1960s. Jack Gutschneider precious jewelry

Jack Gutschneider precious jewelry
Founded in 1957, New York based company Jack Gutschneider Jewelry Co. worked under the Van Gogh brand name. Despite such a short period of two decades, they have left impressive jewelry designs embodied in exquisite collectible jewelry. These sought after pieces appear at auctions and high end jewellery stores from time to time, striking with high craftsmanship and quality of materials.
Traditionally, when creating jewelry the designer used precious metals and and high quality stones. In particular, opals, turquoise, rubies, corals, emeralds, sapphires, garnets and very often, if not always, diamonds.
According to trademark records, last time the owner of the company filed his company trademark was on February 20, 1963. However, soon after the company ceased to exist.
Noteworthy, German-American designer Gutschnieder initially labeled his products “Van Gogh”, but soon, in the early 1960s, he changed the labeling to JG JLRY.
Read more »

Flamingo brooch. Gold tone metal, crystals, art glass. 1980s. Signed Giorgio vintage costume jewelry

Signed Giorgio vintage costume jewelry
The history of costume jewelry trademark “Giorgio” spans a very short period of the 1980s. Due to this fact, Giorgio signed pieces which include a few figural animal pins, are very rare.
According to the U.S. trademark records, filed by Susan M. Shook on the 1st of March of 1980 trademark “Giorgio” soon changed its status to “Cancelled”.
There is practically no information about the company, but luckily, there are products of excellent quality and high craftsmanship. Traditionally inspired by nature, the design of these decorations stands out – beautiful birds and animals in gold tone metal with rich enameling and crystals.
Very often, jewelry labeled “Giorgio” is mistakenly attributed to the iconic Italian designer Armani. Neither the style nor the design of these pieces prove the belonging to Armani. Moreover, Armani didn’t mark his jewelry with one word “Giorgio”, as the surname has been an inseparable part of the world famous brand.
Noteworthy, along with U.S. “Giorgio” and Italian Giorgio Armani hallmarks, there was another Los Angeles U.S. jewelry trademark – Giorgio Beverly Hills. They produced beautiful costume jewelry around the same time period. However, they marked their jewelry with full name “Giorgio Beverly Hills”.
Read more »

Native Siamese female dancer brooch. Sterling silver, multi color enamel. 1930s. Marked Siam vintage costume jewelry

Marked Siam vintage costume jewelry
The jewelry hallmarked Siam is truly unique and rare, due to the fact that the legendary kingdom of Siam ceased to exist in 1932. Officially renamed in 1932, after the change of state regime, the kingdom finally disappeared seven years later. For many centuries Siam was located on the territory of present-day Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. Now these are several independent states. Noteworthy, along with the excellent antique jewelry made of high quality silver, you also get a piece of world history.
The beauty and grace of silver jewelry from Siam has won the hearts of aesthetes for several centuries. Caskets, vases, cigarette cases, knives, cutlery, and of course, a variety of jewelry have become collectible.
Read more »