Recently while shopping on eBay I saw several pieces that were listed as being by certain designers but then went on to say they were unsigned. How can this be?  If you do your research you can assign pieces to certain designers. For example- Miriam Haskell has a very distinct style. ,

Miriam Haskell first began making jewelry commercially around 1924. Like her design predecessors in the Art Nouveau era, she designed and manufactured jewelry that evoked nature in their subjects and construction. She began to create the pieces using organic materials in her jewelry. Not only was Haskell riding the wave of the Roaring Twenties, she was creating a wave of her own. The Twenties were the years that all of the fashion rules were broken. Haskell’s unbounded creativity met with enormous popularity. The prices for her costume jewelry were much lower than the cost of precious metals and stones, so anyone could afford to look fashionable. The popularity of her costume jewelry continued, even after the stock market crash.

 At the heart of a Miriam Haskell piece is a filigree base made of stamped brass. These come from France, Germany, and the US. The filigrees are plated separately in signature Russian gold or a specialty finish, then assembled, and then embellished. Vintage filigrees that are difficult to find are often used. Each element is first picked up by hand. Depending on the nature of the design, the element, no matter how diminutive, is then threaded, encrusted, or wrapped by hand onto a wire, a chain, or handset into a channel or finding. It’s the tight embroidery of the elements-that exposes no sign of the base underneath- that is one of the most distinctive features of Miriam Haskell jewelry. In addition to meticulous construction practices she used sophisticated and unique materials with colors that are characters unto themselves. In the early years, Haskell jewelry was not marked and production was limited. Many of “unsigned” Haskell pieces are questionable as to authenticity.

Haskell never registered her designs. She began to sign her pieces in 1950. The Miriam Haskell trademark was not received until 1988, 64 years after she began designing. Because there were no marks to identify her work prior to 1950, it is difficult to verify many of her pieces.

Several signatures including an incised “Miriam Haskell” on the hook, “Miriam Haskell” in a crescent shaped cartouche, and an oval stamp “Miriam Haskell” on the clasp. Some designs during the fifties were incredibly elaborate, combining stones, pearls, beads, and filigree in new and exciting ways.

So how do I know if this piece is a real Haskell?  Research. Look through photos in books on vintage jewelry; vintage magazine ads and website that specialise in the designer you are trying to research.  My rule of thumb is that if enough characteristics of the designer are present in your piece you can say with confidence that you do have an unsigned piece “in the style of”  your designer. This piece is not signed Miriam Haskell but the over all design has her style written all over it. From the organic style of the flower centerpiece covered with interesting hand wired beads  to the flower shaped beads accented with rhinestones.  it is very likely that this piece is a genuine Haskell pre- 1950.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The brooch below is one  I recently discovered at a flea market is unsigned. Whne I forst looked at it I thought to myself this looks like a Schreiner piece. But after doing more research and comparing it to other Schreiner brooches I have I have concluded that it is not a Schreiner. The center stone even though it has an open back is foiled.  it would have been more in keeping with Schreiner’s style to place an unfoiled stone of a higher quality as the centerpiece of this brooch.

I get asked this question a lot. And I have a few different avenues of research that I pursue when trying to “date” a particular piece.  One way is by looking at jewelry ads from old fashion magazines like this ad for Corocraft from 1957. Magazines are a wonderful way to  ”date” pieces because they will have dates on them and you can tell the approximate date of a piece by matching it to an ad.

Some vintage jewelry pieces have patents on them. This means they have a registered patent number which can be researched to determine the registration date. 

Google  has a new tool called “Google Patents” which contains a search-able data base of all US patents registered from 1790 to 2006. 

Another thing to look for would be a Copyright. In 1956 it became much more cost effective for designers to register a copyright on a design rather than go through the costly  patent process. Pieces bearing a copyright symbol indicates that it was produced in 1956 or later.

You can also look at the makers mark or signature on a piece. For example: The Schreiner Company of New York. Henry Schreiner immigrated from Bavaria Germany to the United States in 1923.  In 1939 Henry opened his own company based in New York.His daughter Terry and her husband Ambrose Albert joined the company in 1951. Henry died in 1954 and his daughter and son in law continued the business until 1975. Signed Schreiner pieces were marked with  “SCHREINER NEW YORK” in all capital letters in an oval. Some times designers did not sign their pieces. Henry Schreiner started out working for Christian Dior before opening his own company and his early pieces are not signed with his name. You can tell it was one of his designs because Henry Schreiner had a very distinctive style.

Another way to date a vintage piece of jewelry is by the style of the piece. Knowing what styles were popular over the years is very helpful.  Again  fashion magazine ads from past years are helpful as are history of costume books.

One more note about the Schreiner opera bib- I did wear it in public. The Carroll Community Theatre had a fundraiser a few years back. It was a ball and I wore it all evening. Needless to say we had a wonderfully enchanting evening at the Bling Ball!

Every fisherman worth his salt has a story about the one that got away. Well, I don’t fish but I do have a story about a piece I let go. A few years ago I had in my possession a very unique piece of vintage jewelry…

This necklace was created by the Schreiner Company of New York. Henry Schreiner immigrated from Bavaria Germany to the United States in 1923. In the old country he worked as a blacksmith, in New York City at that time there were not many horses so he took a job with Con Edison and then later worked for a baker. In 1927 Schreiner went to work for the Better Shoe Buckle Company. Business was wonderful because ladies were wearing their dresses shorter which increased the demand for decorative shoe buckles. In 1939 Henry opened his own company based in New York. His daughter Terry and her husband Ambrose Albert joined the company in 1951. Henry died in 1954 and his daughter and son in law continued the business until 1975.

Schreiner’s early stones were only of Czechoslovakian origin; their creations were always unusual and distinctive and often utilized gunmetal plating. Henry kept his ties with the old country and was able to purchase custom made stones. He had “Key” shaped stones made in Germany by skilled Czechoslovakian craftsmen. These stones were very expensive, exclusive to Schreiner, and are no longer manufactured; therefore, it is important to take care of your Schreiner Jewelry!

The Schreiner Company was known for its imaginative use of color, which Terry attributes to working for ‘the couturiers’ and having the precious color swatches before anyone else. Another Schreiner characteristic was inserting rhinestones upside down, meaning instead of having the flat side up - the point was on the top. With the smooth surface of the stone underneath, it was able to pick up the color of the garment being worn. The pointed button of the stone was now on top to catch the light. They used un-foiled stones for the same reason. If they put the stones over a melon color, it would pick up the peach tones and look like it was custom made for that garment.
Schreiner production was always rather small, and all of it was handmade. The attention that their pieces commanded in the media made extensive advertising unnecessary.

There are many unsigned pieces of Schreiner jewelry because when Schreiner made jewelry for many clothing designers - the Schreiner name tag never went on these pieces. When Schreiner created jewelry for the department stores and exclusive boutiques, they used the Schreiner or Schreiner-NY hangtags, which were removed by the buyer.

…so back to my story. I was experiencing a cash flow problem and so I decided to sell this piece on eBay. You do what you have to do. I wish I still had it but I know it went to a good home and is being well cared for and appreciated. You know I will be searching the rest of my life for another piece as magnificent as this one.