Signed Ronci vintage costume jewelry
Born on February 14, 1901 in Cave, Province of Rome, Italy, Fernando M. Ronci was the founder and president of the F. Ronci Company in Providence, Rhode Island. His parents Francesco and Nazzarena Ronci left Italy in the early 1900s and settled in Providence, Rhode Island. From a young age, Fernando had to earn money by doing various jobs to support the family. Fortunately, during this period, he also found time to learn the craft of making shoe ornaments and buckles.
In 1926, Fernando Ronci, in partnership with his friend, opened a small workshop for the production of jewelry and shoe ornaments. A year later, he founded his own company, F. Ronci, which initially was a workshop in the basement of the house where Fernando himself and his wife Maria worked. Some years later, his company employed about five hundred silversmiths, jewelers, etc., and occupied a separate large building. Ronci jewelry and shoe decorations were sold in the largest stores and boutiques in the United States, Canada, Mexico and South American countries.
Signed Ronci vintage costume jewelry
The family business of Fernando and his wife Maria Guiliano (married in 1923) was very successful. The eldest of Fernando and Maria’s four children, Francesco A. Ronci (June 14, 1924 – December 6, 2008) joined the company. A veteran of World War II, Francesco took over the company in 1946. The ambitious young man took the company to its highest level, making Ronci the largest manufacturer of shoe ornaments in the United States. In addition to F. Ronci, Co. and Ronci Manufacturing, Co. of North Providence, Francesco was president of Cranston Lumber Co., Ronci Realty Co. and Mearthane Products, as well as Century Products in Montreal, Canada.
With Francesco’s retirement, the Ronchi companies ceased to exist in the early 1990s.
