Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
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Item Ships From: Berkshires
Gripoix ElsaSchiaparelli ShockingPinkGlass HandKnottedDoubleStrand Beaded Choker
By Elsa Schiaparelli
Located in Chicago, IL
When fuchsia Burmese rubies were among the most expensive gems in the 1930s, Elsa Schiaparelli began to embrace the "shocking pink" color while designing French-couture clothing and ...
Category
1930s French Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Multi-gemstone, Gilt Metal, Yellow Gold, Bronze
Antique 33 Citrine PolishedTeardrops
FacetedBeads Bronze Chain Drop Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
This antique French chain necklace with three-inch drop features 33 natural citrines including 16 polished-teardrop and 17 faceted-bead golden quartz. It was constructed by hand from...
Category
Early 20th Century French Artisan Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Citrine, Bronze
Gripoix c1930 CocoChanel France Glass Intricate Gilt Bronze Chain Bib Necklace
By Maison Gripoix for Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel commissioned French Maison Gripoix in the 1930s to fabricate this elegant handmade chain choker necklace for one of her couture clients. In the Mughal style t...
Category
1930s French Anglo-Indian Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Turquoise, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal, Bronze
Couture DiorDesigner WesternGermany MaxMuller TealCrystal GoldGilt Textural Ring
By Max Müller Kaufbeuren
Located in Chicago, IL
With an overlapping ring interior and textured exterior like raw silk that matches Christian Dior rings marked "Chr. Dior Germany" from the late-1950s, this bold modernist yellow-gol...
Category
Mid-20th Century German Modernist Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
$1,890 Sale Price
75% Off
Couture Chanel Late1920s MadeInFrance WiredPearlLampworkGlass BrassClip Earrings
By Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
Stamped "Made In France" on their antique brass back-plates like the initial unbranded couture costume-jewelry since 1924 commissioned by French Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel for her forei...
Category
1920s French Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Pearl, Cultured Pearl, Brass
Krementz 1950s Boxed RoseFlowerCharms TriColor GoldPlate Chain Link Bracelet
By Krementz
Co
Located in Chicago, IL
Featuring five intricate rose-flower charms, Krementz finished this chain link bracelet with its characteristic multi-color gold gilding, which is known for being as much as 30 times thicker than the overlay of other jewelry companies as a testament to the enduring quality of its designs. The elegant textured linked shapes and flowers recall the Art- Nouveau style that distinguished the earliest designs by Krementz for women in the 1920s. The brand signature is on
the fold-over clasp.
As three pieces of this listing, the excellent-condition bracelet comes with its original signed green-velvet...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Art Nouveau Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Gold Plate, Rose Gold, White Gold, Yellow Gold
Renaissance FleurDeLis Niello HighRelief Gilt Engraved HeraldryReliquary Jewelry
Located in Chicago, IL
Demonstrating the epitome of miniature decorative art by Renaissance European goldsmiths who fashioned quatrefoil and/or cruciform jewelry with heraldry or religious symbols, this ce...
Category
16th Century European Renaissance Antique Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Gilt Metal, Niello, Silver, Copper
Antique Amuletic 12RockCrystals CagedRing MedievalStyle Gilt Bronze Pendant
Located in Chicago, IL
This antique amuletic bronze framed pendant cages a dozen 7mm-diameter single-cut rock crystals that each feature a table-cut decagon crown, deep pavilion, 21 facets and uncut girdle, while the culets range from off-center to blunted. They are tightly set within four linked rings to overlap at the same angle in a sparkling single row. Seeming to retain a little of its original yellow-gold gilding on just the interior, the frame that surrounds each of the four sections of three crystals enables them to reflect pale-yellow-and-lime light when the pendant is viewed from certain angles. Each crystal can be manually rotated.
Suggesting French heritage, the Medieval Frankish culture in northern France made jewelry in similar segmented or openwork shapes of wheels or whorls, which were worn as gem-decorated disk-shaped brooches or gold-caged rock...
Category
18th Century French Renaissance Antique Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Rock Crystal, Gilt Metal, Bronze, Copper
AncientGreekStyle Sculptural OpenWork BezelSetLapisCabochon Handmade Gold Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
Sold as a vintage ring in Greece, this ancient-style gold-smithed sculptural open-work band features at its raised end a bezel-set lapis cabochon, while the other end of the by-pass ...
Category
20th Century Greek Classical Greek Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Lapis Lazuli, Yellow Gold, Gold, Gilt Metal, Bronze
MiriamHaskell 1926-1939 Crystal Glass Galalith Beads GoldGilt WireCoil Bracelet
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
This Miriam Haskell (1899-1981) brass-wire wrap coil bracelet that features handcrafted peacock-colored beads and decorative gold-gilt brass was created by her first designer Frank H...
Category
Early 20th Century American Baroque Revival Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Brass, Gilt Metal, Yellow Gold
Couture 1937-40 ElsaSchiaparelli MarcelVertes HarlequinDuck GlazedCeramicBrooch
By Elsa Schiaparelli
Located in Chicago, IL
Between the first ad-campaign that legendary fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) commissioned from internationally-admired Paris-based Hungarian-born multimedia artist Marcel Vertes (1895-1961) for her blockbuster perfume "Shocking" in 1937, and in 1940 when they left France after launching her perfume "Sleeping" shortly before the Nazi occupation during WWII, the illustrator-cum-ceramist distinctly handmade-- while traditional materials for couture costume-jewelry were scarce in Paris--this whimsical red-glazed ceramic brooch depicting a duck holding a "wet" umbrella dripped with dashes of turquoise or black glaze.
Significantly, the trombone clasp of the brooch pin, the long-pronged gilt frame, and the text stamped on its back plate "Made In France" match a similarly sized glazed-ceramic brooch of a decoratively-chained bear that was published in the book Bijoux (page 146). The author Deanna Farenti Cera dated that likewise unbranded unsigned brooch to 1938 when it was commissioned for one of Schiaparelli's themed fashion shows "Circus". The invitation to that show, which was illustrated with circus characters and performing animals by Vertes' Parisian peer Christian Berard, included a domesticated white duck--notably not holding nor wearing a fashion accessory.
Unusually, Schiaparelli had commissioned couture umbrellas from other artisans in the 1930s--a couple of which were acquired by TheMet museum. Another relevant Met acquisition of the designer's couture evening gown, which it dates to Summer 1940, features three large glazed-ceramic fasteners in a contrasting color matching our brooch.
The like findings, materials, construction, text, object and palette aside, accessory-adorned ducks were also among the figurative animals commissioned by Schiaparelli for that last collection before the Germans dominated Paris by June 1940, which is evidenced by the photo of the dated gilt hatpin depicting a bejeweled bird head with a bill that appears in the book by Patrick Mauries about another Schiaparelli-associated French parurier Lina Baretti (pages 124-125). See our other listing for one of Baretti's uniquely feathered designs, which likewise has a pronged gilt frame with trombone clasp like ours, but whose partridge subject best suits an earlier Schiaparelli collection for Fall 1938 titled "Pagan".
For us, distinguishing our brooch from other one-of-a-kind ceramic pieces created for Schiaparelli couture...
Category
1930s French Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Gold, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
Renaissance 16thCentury Ultramarine Angel GiltFiligree CrystalMedallion Pendant
Located in Chicago, IL
With artistic value as a Renaissance chiaroscuro miniature painting with precious ultramarine lapis-lazuli pigment, this early 16th-Century period gilt-filigree silver pendant medall...
Category
16th Century Italian Renaissance Antique Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Silver, Enamel, Copper, Gold
MiriamHaskell 1945 CrystalRoseMontee GiltFiligree Glass Enameled ClimberEarrings
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
Two years before the brand signature first appeared in 1947, Miriam Haskell's first designer Frank Hess since 1926 designed these asymmetrical Baroque-style climber earrings. To be p...
Category
1940s American Art Nouveau Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Pearl, Crystal, Gilt Metal, Enamel, Gold
$1,245 Sale Price / set
50% Off
WesternGermany 1950s CherryRed MoldFacetedBead FlowerClasp DoubleStrand Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
Stamped "Western Germany" on the gold-tone underside of its box clasp, this double-strand long necklace with cherry-red beads and decorative clasp features the reflective glossy face...
Category
1950s German Modern Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Gold, Gilt Metal, Mixed Metal
Couture Chanel Verdura 1930s Byzantine GoldCircleRope Gems PurpleHeartMedallion
By Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
When Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel was at her peak during the Art-Deco period as a Parisian couture-fashion designer in the early 1930s and working closely with her favorite jewelry parurier Fulco di Verdura, for one of her clients, she commissioned this one-of-a-kind handcrafted gem-fringed medallion brooch with a yellow-gold circle rope of flexible thick chain that dangles from an unseen ornate open-work curvilinear yellow-gold base. Marked only "FRANCE" on the bar pin with a trombone clasp, like some early 1930s Chanel couture jewelry collected by TheMet museum, its artistry reflects Verdura's colorful organic-form starburst sketches, which you can see from our photo of one of them.
The Sicilian duke began creating fabric patterns for Chanel in 1927, which shortly expanded to executing fine jewelry beginning with custom pieces for the house founder. These included the iconic Byzantine-influenced gem-adorned cuffs referencing the Maltese-military cross, which the French designer can often be seen wearing in circa-1930s photos. Chanel reproduced some of Verdura's originals for her clients, but those variations featured faux gems.
This softly-shaped abstract brooch design suits goldsmith Verdura's early anti-Art-Deco aesthetic that was considered a radical departure from 1920s silver-tone geometric jewelry, which otherwise featured linear designs or figurative representation. The deconstructed bouquet of gems mixes amethyst and rose-quartz beads with natural Keshi pearls and intricate tiny gilt leaves, which are discreetly wired to a Baroque-motif frame that dangles a round gem surrounded by a chain halo. Significantly, Verdura was credited with re-introducing since Victorian times the rope motif to fine jewelry.
Since 1930, Verdura's unique style was influenced by travels with Chanel to explore Byzantine art, Baroque architecture, and the exotic flora-and-fauna among his native Italian aristocratic estate. The legendary fashion-editor Diane Vreeland and American entertainment-stars were among the first Chanel clients to acquire couture real-gem-adorned jewelry made by Verdura, while one of the two brooches treasured by Vreeland was titled "Theodora". See our photo of the Byzantine mosaic of Empress Theodora, whose image--with an abundance of teardrop pearls and colorful gems above her chest, and with a gold halo surrounding her head--could have inspired the design of our brooch.
As one of the most important modern-design collaborations, Chanel's close relationship with Verdura lasted largely undocumented years in Paris, until he launched his first outside jewelry venture with a Hollywood designer-boutique after emigrating to the United States in 1934. Within five years, as a financially-backed in-demand goldsmith in the States, he founded the namesake fine-jewelry company Verdura in New...
Category
1930s French Byzantine Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Amethyst, Pearl, Quartz, Gold, Gilt Metal, Yellow Gold, 18k Gold
Couture 1938 France Depose ElsaSchiaparelli Pagan FeatherCrystalGold Bird Brooch
By Elsa Schiaparelli
Located in Chicago, IL
Unusually decorated with small partridge feathers like the yellow-gold gilt necklace commissioned by Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) that is featured on the front-and-back covers and centerfold of the French costume-jewelry hardcover book, Lina Baretti Parures, authored by Patrick Mauries, this unique pave-crystal yellow-gold gilt metal partridge-on-a-branch brooch is further distinguished as an unsigned Parisian-couture piece for Italian-born Schiaparelli with its combination of embossed text "Made In France" and "Modele Depose", along with the trombone clasp often used in the early 20th Century for custom-made French small brooches.
The book centerfold on pages 90-91 shows a closeup of the feathered necklace created by French-born Corsican Baretti, whose intricate decoration often mixed ready-made textural or shiny materials like velvet, cork, metal wire, rhodoid, raffia or feathers with custom-made metal, plastic or glass by specialized Parisian workshops such as Maison Gripoix. The Baretti-book caption about the attributed necklace notes: "Collier realise pour Elsa Schiaparelli. Liege, soie, cannetille, perles de verre et plumes de perdix. Chaine en metal." While none of the captions date this necklace--which could have been from the same commission as our brooch--Baretti created one-of-a-kind jewelry for Schiaparelli from the 1930s to the early 1950s until the fashion designer retired.
Our brooch was most likely made for a fashion-show debut of one of Schiaparelli's themed clothing collections in the late 1930s for which she commissioned many costume-jewelry paruriers including Baretti. See our photo of a Schiaparelli 1930s...
Category
1930s French Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Gold, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
1980s Mixed Stone Drop Earrings
Located in Alford, MA
Vogue Bijoux drop earrings, the oval earpiece of a central mabe pearl framed by rhinestones suspending a ribbed, round blue stone topped by graduated ...
Category
1980s American Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
GripoixChanelGoosens RenaissanceStyleGiltBronzeOpenwork GlassCabochonGems Brooch
Located in Chicago, IL
With distinct handmade glass by French Maison Gripoix for a faux-amethyst 25mm domed open-back oval cabochon poured into a forged wire ring topped with a serrated-bezel setting, this...
Category
1950s French Renaissance Revival Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Amethyst, Chalcedony, Turquoise, Yellow Gold, Bronze, Gilt Metal
Trifari 1970s Necklace and Chandelier Earrings
Located in Alford, MA
c.1960s-'70s Trifari necklace and earrings set, the necklace comprised of three gold chains, the shortest of which features a large pendant with free-...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
MiriamHaskell 1930s Shells RussianGilt Filagree BrassFlora WoodLeaf Clip Brooch
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
This early Miriam Haskell lacquered-shell and brass-and-wood-decorated clip brooch was created by Frank Hess, her first designer since 1926. The c.1930 brooch features three seashell...
Category
1930s American Baroque Revival Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Gold, Base Metal, Brass, Gilt Metal
$1,036 Sale Price
65% Off
1930s CastellaniQuality GoldFiligree&Granulation Enamel
Turquoise Earrings
Located in Chicago, IL
On par with Castellani goldsmithing since the mid-1900s, which revived ancient Etruscan techniques admired for their highly intricate and ornate gilding and metalwork, these masterfu...
Category
Early 20th Century Unknown Etruscan Revival Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Turquoise, Mixed Metal, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal, Enamel, Brass
Couture Chanel Late1920s MadeInFrance WiredPearl&LampworkGlass BrassClipEarrings
By Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
Like the initial unbranded couture costume-jewelry since 1924 commissioned by French Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel for her foreign-client ensembles, "Made In France" was stamped on their a...
Category
1920s French Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Pearl, Cultured Pearl, Brass
Artist BertoiaStyle Hammered SterlingSilver SquiggleSpiral UndulatingWire Brooch
Located in Chicago, IL
Strongly resembling the Harry Bertoia Foundation's archived c.1947 unsigned small brooch (D.JE.27) that is essentially an elegant hammered silver curvilinear three-humped squiggle by...
Category
Early 20th Century American Modern Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Sterling Silver
$3,780 Sale Price
50% Off
Couture 1939-50Schiaparelli-SchlumbergerPeriod GlassBeads ProngSetCrystal Brooch
By Artisan NYC
Located in Chicago, IL
In the style of Elsa Schiaparelli couture costume-jewelry and one of her paruriers since the late 1930s, Jean Schlumberger, this handcrafted highly-textural glass-and-crystal rhodium...
Category
1940s American Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Pearl, Silver, Rhodium
Couture DiorDesigner WesternGermanyMaxMuller Crystal SinuousDangle Clip Earrings
By Max Müller Kaufbeuren
Located in Chicago, IL
While making similar mid-century haute-couture costume jewelry for Christian Dior, designer Max Muller based near Kaufbeuren, Western Germany, created these dramatic clear-crystal si...
Category
Mid-20th Century German Modern Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Silver, Gilt Metal
Bakelite 1930s German ArtDeco GoldRinged Green Ball Pendants ChainLink Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
Most likely made in Germany during the Art Deco period, this vintage unsigned long heavy 12-pendant gold-gilt chain-link bib necklace features ball charms of gold-ringed emerald-green matte Bakelite. Hanging 13-inches from the back of the neck, the long necklace is constructed with elegant double-ring links, while it fastens with a large toggle and decorative bar.
Each end of the toggle bar resembles stacked balls, recalling the oval-cartouche stacked-cannonball signature of German jewelry chain-specialist Jakob Bengel, who founded his business in Idar-Oberstein in 1873. Due to WWII, the Bengel factory, which is now a museum, permanently closed. His pre-1940 unsigned designs were largely overlooked until his factory catalogues were rediscovered decades later, which enabled 21st-Century books to be published about one of the leading manufacturers of Art Deco costume jewelry. Bengel pieces without the cartouche can be distinguished by thin metal chain links combined with single or bi-color Bakelite pendants in repeating geometric shapes like balls, semi-circles, rectangles, bars, rings or ribbed texture.
As Germany was the first country to license Bakelite for factory production since the 1910s, during the next 20 years its costume-jewelry designers began to feature locally-produced colorful Bakelite instead of glass or early semi-synthetic plastics. Between the world wars during poor economic conditions in Germany, its jewelry producers who were manufacturing for export were not motivated to stamp their country on such products.
The design of this Bakelite-charm necklace seems inspired by one-of-a-kind chunkier-chain charm necklaces commissioned for couture clothing ensembles by international fashion leader Parisian Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel. She only produced her trend-setting commissioned jewelry...
Category
1930s German Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Yellow Gold, Base Metal, Gilt Metal
Couture 1950s French Montague Wired GlassBeads CrystalEnameledRondelles Earrings
By Francoise Montague
Located in Chicago, IL
In the 1950s while he operated an eponymous Parisian couture costume-jewelry boutique, Francoise Montague designed these unique handmade ornate pair of sparkly clip earrings featurin...
Category
1950s French Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Enamel, Gilt Metal, Mixed Metal
HenrySchreiner Early Set ProngSet Crystal Silver Spray Tiered Earrings
Brooch
By Henry Schreiner
Located in Chicago, IL
Henry Schreiner, the Austrian-born blacksmith founder of Schreiner in New York in 1932, handcrafted this demi-parure of prong-set colorless crystal stylized-foliage sprays after he b...
Category
1940s American Victorian Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Diamond, Rhodium, Silver
Henry Schreiner 1930s ProngSetCrystal Flora Spray Paisley Shadow Box Gilt Brooch
By Henry Schreiner
Located in Chicago, IL
Henry Schreiner, the Austrian-born blacksmith founder of Schreiner New York in 1932, handcrafted this multi-color prong-set Bavarian-crystal, stylized-flora spray, gold-gilt brass br...
Category
1930s American Artist Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Brass, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
MiriamHaskell 1926-1929 Shell Glass FauxPearl Crystal Silver Art Deco Sautoir
By Frank Hess for Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
In the late 1920s during the Art-Deco period, this Miriam Haskell white mostly glass-beaded sautoir was created in New York City by her first designer Frank Hess. This uniquely hand-...
Category
1920s American Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Pearl, Freshwater Pearl, Natural Pearl, Coral, Silver
Cat
sEye 21 BallCut Moonstones Antique Victorian 14KGoldFill TubularLinkNecklace
Located in Chicago, IL
All featuring white cat's-eyes, the 21 gray 3mm ball-cut moonstones of this necklace are beaded symmetrically on this antique choker between stations of shiny 14-karat gold-filled tu...
Category
Late 19th Century American Arts and Crafts Antique Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Moonstone, Cat’s Eye, 14k Gold, Gold-filled
KJL 1980s MuseumCollectedDesigner TwoStrandResin Boxed MidnightRose Necklace
By Kenneth Jay Lane
Located in Chicago, IL
Kenneth Jay Lane--whose monogram KJL is signed on the white-rose-decorated gold-tone clasp of this double-strand black-resin beaded necklace--is only one of four bylined jewelry designers collected by The Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection At The Metropolitan Museum of Art from the two-decade period between 1970-1989, which was dominated by such bold big shapes in mostly black, white and gold.
A must for any collector of the world-renowned American-founded beauty-brand Avon, its rare limited-edition retailed necklace by Lane titled "Midnight Rose" is among the most distinctive that it produced among its lines of primarily perfume, cosmetics, and personal-care products whose origin dates back to 1886 in New York. Notably, the life-sized shiny cast-acrylic rose has the look of a far more expensive carved stone, such as one cut and polished from light-filled saturated-white chalcedony, which is a hard semi-precious stone favored by Lane.
Like Lane's own line when it was originally signed KJL, the decorated clasp is uniquely designed. It locks underneath with a semi-circular hinge, which enables the stylized three-dimensional smooth rose to be perfectly positioned on the right side of the upper chest with the bud facing upwards above its three-leaf sepal in contrasting gilt textured metal. This position adds sparkle from above to the three pave rhinestones in a gold-tone setting at center of the rose, as if its dew-covered bud was beginning to open in strong moonlight. To balance the bold rose shape, the black strands cross each other below at a single point, which adds another eye-catching element to the concealed-string-tied necklace.
In mint condition with no sign of wear, the necklace was acquired in its original lavender Avon retail box. In contrast, the paper shows wear and tear from handling, while still featuring the jewelry designer's full-name script signature, title, and text details like how to care for this synthetic jewelry. The metal-stamped hallmark is "KJL for Avon...
Category
1980s American Contemporary Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Gilt Metal
Antique French NancySigned ArtNouveau MuchaMajorelleGruberStyle SilveredGlassBox
By Daum
Located in Chicago, IL
Influenced by the Art Nouveau illustrations of Alphonse Mucha, this Nancy-signed antique French enameled glass jewelry box display case is decora...
Category
1890s French Art Nouveau Antique Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Gilt Metal, Mixed Metal, Silver Plate, Brass, Bronze
Trifari AlfredPhilippe 1948-1954 RhodiumPlated Tassel Chain FrenchClip Earrings
By Alfred Philippe for Trifari
Located in Chicago, IL
These mid-century platinum-like silver tassel chain drop earrings were designed by Trifari artistic director Alfred Philippe in an Art Deco style that recalls his earlier work for Ca...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Art Deco Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Rhodium, Silver, Base Metal
$675 Sale Price / set
55% Off
MiramHaskell c1930 Stamped Brass FloralMotif Pendants LinkChain Choker Necklace
By Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
Featuring stamped-brass findings c1930, this Miriam Haskell collar necklace was made by her first designer Frank Hess in an Art-Nouveau style with ornate floral motifs for its 15 dangling bud-shaped or fluted-ball pendants, along with intricate textural patterns on the bands that link the oval-ring chain choker. Among the festoon of graduating charms, the largest centered pendant is 1.5 inches long and 0.75 inches in diameter. One of our photos show that the surprisingly light-weight pendants are hollow--some with a hole punched at the bottom.
The distinct stamped brass, which include a fold-over clasp, are found in more obviously Haskell-Hess pre-WWII jewelry...
Category
1930s American Artisan Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Brass
Robert Black Glass and Gold Metal Brooch by Robert
By Original by Robert
Located in Alford, MA
Beautifully worked round brooch by Robert, intricately constructed of faceted black glass in a wreath-like setting. Can be worn as a brooch or pendant.
Category
1960s American Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
ArtNouveau Austria Scheid RareMark Pave BlueZircon Silver Snake Antique Brooch
By Georg Adam Scheid
Located in Chicago, IL
During the Art-Nouveau period while German-born Vienna-based silversmith, niello master, and entrepreneur Georg Adam Scheid (1837-1921) was prospering from a related refinery busines...
Category
Early 20th Century Austrian Victorian Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Aquamarine, Diamond, Sapphire, Zircon, Silver, Sterling Silver
1921 Early ArtDeco SterlingSilver BlackOnyx Marcasite Signed Rectangular Ring
Located in Chicago, IL
On this antique early Art Deco-period solitaire cocktail ring, a long rectangular mirror-cut black onyx is surrounded by 28 faceted marcasite stones. The American silver ring, whose ...
Category
1920s American Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Marcasite, Onyx, Sterling Silver
CoutureCocoChanel 1930s LinaBaretti BlackCamellias PaveCrystals YellowGold Set
By Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
This signed French couture set of pave-crystal and yellow-gold brooch and earrings from the Art-Deco period is marked in the manner of one-off costume jewelry commissioned...
Category
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Gold, Gold Plate, Silver
Couture 1938-49 Schiaparelli Gripoix Baretti Glass FauxSapphire&Pearl Parure
Located in Chicago, IL
This couture French Maison Gripoix-fabricated faux-sapphire-topped-pearl glass cluster brooch and clip-earrings set dates to around WWII, when Parisian fashion designer Elsa Schiapar...
Category
1940s American Modern Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Pearl, Sapphire, Mixed Metal
Antique ArtNouveau PinkQueenConch Chatoyance 14mmRound SterlingScrewEarrings
Located in Chicago, IL
These natural pink Queen conch pearl 14MM near-round stud earrings with antique screw-back clips stamped "sterling" each weigh 3 grams, for a more than 10 carat weight total as much ...
Category
Early 20th Century North American Art Nouveau Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Pearl, Sterling Silver
Trifari PhilippeMidCentury GoldParure TasselEarrings
CrystalDiamanteLinkCollar
By Alfred Philippe for Trifari
Located in Chicago, IL
For Trifari by mid-century, its artistic director French-born Alfred Philippe designed this yellow-gold set including the seven-bar linked collar with central invisibly-set diamante,...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Art Deco Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Gilt Metal, Gold, Yellow Gold, Base Metal
Trifari 1930s Philippe Gold Textural Drop Earrings
Tassel HeavyChain Sautoir
By Alfred Philippe for Trifari
Located in Chicago, IL
Signed "Trifari" with a crown and without a post-1955 U.S.-copyright symbol on all three matching pieces, this likely late-1930s highly-textured yellow-gold-plated demi-parure was designed by American Trifari's French-born head designer Alfred Philippe after he had honed his fine-jewelry craftsmanship while creating luxury parures for Cartier and Van Cleef
Arpels. The set features a heavy tasseled eight-strand chain sautoir necklace and earrings with dropped fluted-ball pendants,
With French-style signed clip fastening, the contrasting-texture two-inch-long earrings each have two twisted fluted round beads in different sizes, with the larger one capped at both ends with additional shapes and textures.
On the necklace, this textural contrast is amplified with the inclusion of many chains. The decorative chain caps and...
Category
1930s American Baroque Revival Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Gold, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
Vintage DoubleSpiral Twisted Silver Wire Filigree Link Choker Collar Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
Featuring handmade double-spiral filigree links, this vintage collar choker necklace was created by tightly twisting fine silver wire, which was ...
Category
20th Century Greek Revival Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Silver
Vendome 1960s Floral Parure
Located in Alford, MA
Vendome parure comprising a brooch, bracelet, and earrings, each composed of aurora borealis and green crystals of varying sizes, and each accented by s...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
$295 Sale Price / set
21% Off
Couture 1950s WestGermany DiorDesigner Crystal DoubleTrimmed EmeraldCut Earrings
By Christian Dior Haute Couture
Located in Chicago, IL
While making similar Christian Dior haute-couture costume-jewelry since 1955, parurier Max Muller based near Kaufbeuren, Western Germany, created these exceptionally-clear crystal si...
Category
Mid-20th Century German Modern Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Silver, Gilt Metal
Schreiner 1950s ProngSet UniqueGreen ABCrystals PaveCrystalLeaves Silver Brooch
By Schreiner of New York
Located in Chicago, IL
This colorful prong-set crystal spray brooch by Schreiner New York was made to compliment luxury clothing by a U.S.-based fashion designer, such as Pauline Trigere, in the late 1950s. This piece is special because it shows the unique decorative technique that Schreiner used for a period of several years in reaction to the limited availability of the first aurora-borealis (AB) stones by Swarovski in 1956, which had been designed for Christian Dior.
In response to the availability of only the initial AB color that mostly reflected bright blue and the high demand from other designers, Schreiner's creative family soon applied transparent glass paint to create additional colors, such as the light-green painted AB crystals on this brooch. According to Henry Schreiner's late daughter who took over the business with her jewelry-designer husband, this enabled them to become the first to produce costume jewelry with AB stones in different colors, while Swarovski took several years to introduce similar colors.
All original painted AB crystals are intact in this brooch, which is significant since a lost stone...
Category
1950s American Modern Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Silver, Brass
Antique BurmeseImperialGreenJadeite Late1800s IntricateCarved ChineseEarrings
Located in Chicago, IL
Made during the crossover Arts-&-Crafts and Art-Nouveau movements during the Qing Dynasty, these antique Chinese earrings feature rare Burmese natu...
Category
1890s Chinese Arts and Crafts Antique Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Jade, Brass, Gilt Metal, Yellow Gold
Schiaparelli Signed MidCentury LeavesMotif Austrian Crystals Gilt Link Bracelet
By Schiaparelli
Located in Chicago, IL
Signed "Schiaparelli" in script, this mid-century link bracelet features a textural-leaves motif characteristic of costume jewelry by the Parisian couturier Elsa Schiaparelli. Like m...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Post-War Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Yellow Gold, Base Metal, Gilt Metal
Couture Late1920s ChanelEra Rousselet Pearlescent Pendants SilverChain Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
Featuring 12 large patinated pearlescent charms distinctly handcrafted by Parisian Louis Rousselet--the master glass-and-metal-ornament parurier for French couture fashion houses since 1920--this heavy silver chain necklace is made in the unique chunky style of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel that she introduced in the late 1920s as her alternative to pearls.
Capping Rousselet's signature Art-Deco-period handmade beads, his intricate multi-texture metal tops for these balls resemble organic shapes like the stems of acorns or fruit. In a bib arrangement, the duotone reflective heavy spheres--in black glass, blue-gray enameled galalith, and silver metal--conform to the cleavage of the wearer.
Aside from chain jewelry commissioned by Chanel, Rousselet-style jewelry was usually constructed with thin wires or braided string to enable his beads to attract the most attention. Notably, this necklace fastens with an enlarged spring-ring clasp that became associated with increasingly heavy Chanel costume jewelry. Like 1920s Chanel jewelry by Rousselet, the necklace is both unmarked for French origin and unsigned.
In subsequent decades, variations of chunky-charm chain necklaces were reproduced by Chanel with her other paruriers using different materials in which they specialized, such as a similar Chanel-signed piece in the 1960s by bronze-maker Maison Denez...
Category
1920s French Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Brass, Gilt Metal, Silver
RobertGoosens for CocoChanel Gilt LostWaxCastPearlTalisman&Charms Chain Sautoir
Located in Chicago, IL
While contracted since 1953 as an independent craftsman to create one-of-a-kind costume jewelry for French Masion DeGorce, Parisian goldsmith Robert Goosens (1927-2016) was initially commissioned there to craft for Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel one-of-a-kind Byzantine-style long decorative-chain necklaces with unique sculptural gilt-metal or faux-pearl charms, which would be layered to accessorize her couture clothing for clients and herself. As the commissions from the fashion designer for his work mounted, by the following year Goosens began working directly for Chanel at a mobile workshop--continuing to create unsigned couture pieces while establishing Maison Goosens. Although Chanel began signing most of the jewelry by the late 1950s, the exception until Chanel's death was most often the long chain necklaces with simpler clasps that were among a multi-chain set designed by Goosens.
Suggesting that this is the case for our unsigned gold-gilt barrel-clasped sautoir, the cast foliate prongs that cap its pendant are strikingly similar to the cast lobed-leaf prongs of the textural pair of faux-pearl button earrings and a capped-faux-pearl pendant earring that are published in a close-up photo (see our snapshot) in Jewelry By Chanel, the book written by Patrick Mauries. The caption (adjacent page 97) dates those likewise unsigned Chanel pieces to 1954-1971 when only Goosens would have executed them with his lost-wax casting.
A lost-wax-cast sautoir pendant with similar foliate prongs signed Chanel with three stars (couture) was auctioned by Christie's in 2000 among "A Group of Five Gilt Metal and Simulated Gemstone Necklaces, Chanel" in which one piece was unsigned. The house noted in its catalogue that the pendant necklace had been published earlier that year in the Editions Plume book (page 28), Bijoux de Haute Couture: Collection Robert Goossens by Gilles Plazy and Chantal Bizot.
Also characteristic of Robert Goosens for Chanel...
Category
1950s French Byzantine Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Pearl, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal, Silver, Vermeil
ArtDeco 491 ProngSetCrystals SchreinerStyle SilverSolder 35" Belt ChokerNecklace
Located in Chicago, IL
With settings and construction like Art-Deco-period unsigned crystal costume-jewelry by Bavarian-born blacksmith Henry Schreiner (1898-1954), this mid-century unsigned silver-soldere...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Art Deco Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Silver, Base Metal
ArtDeco Coro 1919 "PatPend" Lady Bug Enamel FauxGem Vermeil Brooch
By Coro
Located in Chicago, IL
With the Coro signature "script-no-angle" since 1919 and "PAT.PEND.", this early Art Deco vermeil lady-bug beetle brooch features a red enameled face and mixed-cut bezel-set red and ...
Category
Early 20th Century American Art Deco Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Ruby, Blue Sapphire, Gold, Enamel, Gilt Metal, Vermeil
Couture RobertGoosens 1969-1971 MadameGres RockCrystal Stone HammeredWire Choker
By Robert Goossens
Located in Chicago, IL
Robert Goosens, the French haute-couture Chanel-favorite parurier who enjoyed reinterpreting ancient and antique styles of jewelry with rock crystal and faux stones, also collaborated with Madame Alix Gres. Relevant to this statement necklace, the Parisian theatrical-costume designer, who founded the French fashion-house Maison Gres, commissioned Goosens to make spiral-wire adornments for her couture gowns. This handmade hammered brass wire choker necklace with five dropped en-tremblant pendants is decorated with unique colorful beads and wrapped wire. The piece dates between 1969-1971 based on similar unsigned spiraled-wire metal jewelry without goldsmithing marks in the museum collection of TheMet (see our photo), which acquired it from Maison Givenchy founder Hubert de Givenchy, who was one of most supportive fans of Gres.
Like the legendary sculptural clothing designs of Madame Gres, this necklace was inspired by Greco-Roman costumes, while its sculpted shapes by Goosens reference her signature curvilinear fabric techniques that earned her the sobriquet of "the master of the wrapped and draped dress". Goosens (1927-2016), nicknamed Monsieur Bijou, also made jewelry inspired by other periods of antiquity to compliment the couture clothing of Coco Chanel, Cristobal Balenciaga, Elsa Schiaparelli, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent. After Goosens collaborated with Gres, he revisited golden spiral designs with Saint Laurent.
Similar to the free-flowing fabric manipulated in Gres gowns, this hand-shaped necklace that we photographed in sunlight is a study in motion that drapes across a curvy cleavage. Adding drama to this necklace below its wire choker, the top teetering-wire pendant is a twisted and hammered horizontal double spiral, which is a Hellenistic symbol of life and transformation suggesting the breasts of a goddess of fertility and motherhood. Yet distinctly Goosens, 18 hand-cut and hand-dyed "ancient-Roman-blue" rock-crystal beads are wire-strung to weight a second tier of two separate vertical double-spiral pendants. On each, a wrapped-wire tube divides the blue beads. Between these vertical pendants in two tiers, the central vertical pendants each feature a one-of-a-kind multicolor bead (yellow/blue/red/black/white) in two lengths with abstract organic patterns recalling ancient Italian glasswork. Four more blue beads bracket these larger colorful beads. An additional 10 blue beads and 5 wire tubes decorate the bottom looped wire pendant, as well as the bottom of the wire choker.
Like the hammered-wire jewelry designs of modern artist Alexander Calder, the creative complex construction of this necklace surprisingly required no metalsmith techniques, such as soldering or casting, just great skill with a jewelry pliers and hammer.
For a bigger picture of couture clothing by Madame Gres during the decade beginning in 1969, she notably designed many museum-collected one-color silk-taffeta draped long gowns with empire waists and simple high collars or geometric cut-outs. Remarkably, the focal points for some of these unique dresses were at the wrists, from where long pouf sleeves voluminously droop around the hands to nearly the floor like two enormous long-petaled flowers. If paired with this equally downward-focused and balanced necklace from this same period, its bold Greco-Roman elements would have pulled a viewer's gaze of the dress from floor to face.
Although there is no significant provenance for this necklace, hammered brass and tinted rock crystal were among the few materials repeatedly associated with Goosens from 1969-71. For example, in his overlapping interior-decor collections based on themes of waterlilies or foliage, Goosens hammered gilt brass wire and sheets (see our closeup photo) to represent plant parts or he wired rock-crystal beads to appear as tiny fruits. While the two multicolor glass or resin beads in this necklace are atypical, the combination of blue, yellow and red is a palette that the designer used for other pieces of rock-crystal jewelry and he created many kinds of multicolor faux stones with glass or resin paste, such as faux Tibetan turquoise including black and white. According to journalism based on interviews with Goosens, he often acquired unusual stones and glass for inspiration during his extensive travels exploring museum-collected antiquities.
Since Maison Goosens was acquired in 2005 by Maison Chanel, it opened the Parisian showroom Galerie Goosens and associated shops to sell many kinds of reproductions and reimagined works by the founder, which fortunately does not suit the completely handmade elements of this necklace. So this couture piece remains one-of-a-kind. If desiring a vintage haute-couture original by Robert Goosens, we recommend perusing the Maison Goosens website so that a reproduction with a contemporary signature is not mistakenly purchased.
Madame Gres (1903-1993) was born Germaine Emelie Krebs, but initially identified her fashion designs with the pseudonym Alix and later Alix Barton...
Category
Mid-20th Century French Greek Revival Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Rock Crystal, Crystal, Brass
Trifari Philippe1940s JellyBelly
PearlFlowers GoldPendants SignedChainNecklace
By Alfred Philippe for Trifari
Located in Chicago, IL
Among the most in-demand designs by Trifari artistic director Alfred Philippe were his flora and "jelly belly" fauna jewelry from the 1940s. Both iconic styles can be mixed as the go...
Category
1940s American Modern Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Pearl, Gold, Vermeil, Yellow Gold
Couture 1920s Chanel Rousselet Hearts Camellia Metallic Glass Bracelet
Sautoir
By Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel's earliest fashion motifs of camellias, hearts, and topaz are combined in this Art-Deco period tightly silk-strung metallic-glass couture set of a mixed-bead ...
Category
1920s French Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Gold-filled, Yellow Gold, Silver, Brass, Copper
Antique ArtDeco French LampworkGlass GalalithFans SilverRondelles Necklace
Located in Chicago, IL
This antique French early Art-Deco period two-strand necklace is strung with a variety of Parisian handcrafted beads that date to the early 1920s, including sea-green lampwork glass,...
Category
1920s French Art Deco Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Rock Crystal, Silver, Sterling Silver
Couture ChanelGripoix 1930s PouredGlassAquaFlowerPendants ByzantineChain Parure
By Maison Gripoix for Chanel
Located in Chicago, IL
This couture Coco-Chanel-commissioned French Maison Gripoix handcrafted early-20th-Century demi-parure features eight flower pendants whose daisy-like metalsmithed petal frames suspe...
Category
1930s French Byzantine Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Gilt Metal, Mixed Metal, Enamel, Bronze
Schreiner NY 1950s 22 ProngSet Crystals AB
PiecrustSetPaleYellow Clip Earrings
By Henry Schreiner
Located in Chicago, IL
In 1956 when Christian Dior's ultra-feminine New Look had dominated fashion for nearly a decade, Schreiner New York handcrafted these opulent unsigned earrings with 22 prong-set open-back crystals to accompany the eveningwear of an American high-end fashion designer. They may have been for client Pauline Trigere when her ready-to-wear collections with accessories including unmarked-Schreiner jewelry were sold by NYC's Bergdorf Goodman and worn by her clients including Grace Kelly, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Elizabeth Taylor. Comparatively, Schreiner jewelry produced in the 1950s for direct sale to high-end department stores, such as Neiman Marcus, Henri Bendel and Saks Fifth Avenue, were the only pieces to include a brand signature.
Using the best quality European crystals that were custom-made for him, the founder Henry Schreiner was among the world's leading glass-jewelry designers before he died in 1954, whereafter his daughter and her husband continued with their handcrafted production. The family shared this distinction with Western Germany-based Max Muller and Paris-based Roger Jean Pierre, who were commissioned to create haute-couture pieces for the world's leading fashion houses. Notably in 1949, Henry Schreiner was commissioned by Dior to create several exclusive pieces.
We know these earrings were not created earlier than 1956 because of the use of iridescent coating on some of the crystals that produces a rainbow effect. Known as aurora-borealis (AB) stones, Swarovski initially produced them exclusively for a haute-couture collection that year by Dior. Shortly thereafter, the Schreiner team had access to such colorful stones, and most certainly used them as soon as possible to enable their American fashion-designer clients to compete with the new Dior iridescent-colors trend.
At the bottom tips of the marquise-shaped pale yellow stones...
Category
1950s American Modern Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Yellow Gold, Gilt Metal
MiriamHaskell 1945 PeacockBeads Parure Wired Bracelet Earrings 16Strand Necklace
By Miriam Haskell
Located in Chicago, IL
Miriam Haskell's first designer Frank Hess--before 1947, when the brand mark was added and while couture-style adjustable-hook necklaces were in demand in post-war America--produced ...
Category
1940s American Baroque Revival Vintage Berkshires - Jewelry Watches
Materials
Crystal, Pearl, Gold, Gilt Metal, Yellow Gold
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