Costume Jewelry Designers & Company Information

Costume Jewelry Designers:

A - H

I - Q

R - Z

A - H:   A.L.L. ,  R. Blackinton ,  Bogoff ,  Boucher ,  C&H CO. ,  Carnegie, Hattie ,
Ciner ,  Cini ,  Claudette ,   Coro ,  Coventry, Sarah ,  de Lillo ,  DENICOLA ,
DeRosa ,Diamonbar ,  Eisenberg ,  EMMOLITE ,  EMMONS ,  Florenza ,
Francois ,  Freirich ,  Goldette ,  Grossé ,  Hagler, Stanley ,  Haskell, Miriam,
Hobé ,  Hollycraft  

A.L.L.  -   For the A. L. Lindroth Company 1896-1937 Attleboro, MA.

R. Blackinton - Founded in 1862 the company specialized in mostly sterling silver and 14k gold novelties and jewelry. A block letter R, B with the horizontal sword (hilt on the left), and Co., each in an individual octagon represent R. Blackington & Co. The original trademark, the block B with sword only (not surrounded by R and Co.), was used until c. 1900. The company was bought by Wells, Inc. in 1967 and liquidated in 1978. ( 4 )

Bogoff - Jewels by Bogoff, Spear Novelty Co., Chicago, IL, 1940s and 1950s created beautiful, quality pieces that had the "real look" in heavy rhodium and hand-set stones. ( 1 ), p. 36.

Boucher - Marcel Boucher designed jewelry for Mazer Bros. in the early 1930s. He established his own company, Marcel Boucher and Cie Company, in 1937 to design and produce his costume jewelry. The company became a subsidiary of Dovorn Industries, a watch manufacterer, in 1972. Marcel Boucher died in 1965. Sandra Boucher, his wife, ran the company until 1972. Boucher jewelry is usually signed and carries an inventory number. Early marks are "Marboux" or "MB" in a cartouche. Later marks are "Marcel Boucher" and "Boucher". Marcel Boucher jewelry is "high-end" and can be tough to tell from the "real thing". For some examples of his work and the different signatures used on Boucher costume jewelry to help you in dating, click here . Numbers on Boucher pieces are inventory/style numbers. Though the numbers are a clue to age, the style may have been designed, numbered, and yet not actually produced until much later. Additionally, some styles had more than one production run. Overall construction should also be taken into account when dating pieces.

Boucher Signatures:

• MB Sterling - 1942 to 1944
• Phrygian Cap - registered in 1944 used till 1949
• Boucher - 1950 to 1955
• Boucher © - 1955 to 1971
Approximate dates for Boucher Inventory Numbers:

• 2300 - 2350 from 1945
• 2351 - 2450 from 1946
• 2450 - 2550 from 1947
• 2550 - 2750 from 1948
• 2750 - c.3000 from1949
• 3000 - c.3500 from 1950
• marks with the copyright symbol are after 1955

C&H CO. - Chapin & Hollister Company, Providence, RI. Established in 1898 by William P. Chapin and Frederick R. Hollister and incorporated the same year. Manufacturers of fine rolled plate chains, gold, silver and gold-filled knives and jewelry. Last listing found was 1922. ( 4 )

Hattie Carnegie - Hattie Carnegie's early costume jewelry, designed to complement her clothing line, dates from around 1918. Her jewelry is usually marked "Hattie Carnegie" or "Carnegie". A less frequently used mark is "HC" within a diamond, inside a semi-oval. Hattie Carnegie's hair ornaments and cases are sometimes marked "Pooped Pussy Cat" or "Pooped Poodle".

Ciner - Ciner originally manufactured fine jewelry. The company began manufacturing costume jewelry in 1931 and is still in business. After WWII, Ciner jewelry is marked "CINER". It is unknown if all Ciner jewelry was marked.

Cini - Guglielmo Cini was trained as a young man in Florence, Italy before immigrating to the United States in 1922. He established a workshop in Boston until 1957 when he relocated to Laguna Beach, CA. His designs in sterling and gold-plated silver echo a rich European tradition and responded to the American market particularly. Design catalogs of 1941 and 1963 display many of his successful silver jewelry items. In the 1950's and 1960's Cini more frequently included faceted colored rhinestones in his compositions. He ceased production in 1970. ( 6 ), p. 83-87

Claudette - The trademark belongs to Premier Jewelry Co., Inc. It was first used in 1945. It is not clear how long this jewelry was manufactured but it is the author's opinion, that jewelry under this trademark was not sold for an extended period, perhaps not beyond the mid-1950's. Costume jewelry marked Claudette is extremely rare. Jewelry has received little attention. This may be its first exposure in a book on costume jewelry. ( 3 )

Coro - Coro/Corocraft: Early Coro jewelry, (as early as 1901), is marked "CR", (stands for Emanuel Cohn and Gerald Rosenberg.) Coro production ceased in 1979, except for Coro, Inc, in Canada, which was still operational in 1990. The "Coro" mark, which is most common, was in use since 1919. "Coro Craft" mark was used since 1937 and was originally used on higher quality pieces. "Corocraft (one word) was used after WWII. The Pegasus mark was used after the war. Coro used many additional marks. Matching sets were generally more popular in the late 40s and 50s and the WWII vermeil era was generally more about pins and brooches. Often they came in pin/brooch/duette + earring sets but rarely as full parures. Coro's most collectible items are: early jewelry, duettes, jelly belly figurals, Mexican sterling, some Corocrafts, most Vendome jewelry and sets from 1930 to 1950.

Coro/Corocraft Signatures:

• Script Coro - in use since 1919.
• Coro Craft - used since 1937.
• Sterling Craft Coro - used in 1942, a less expensive line, usually vermeil over light weight sterling.
• CoroCraft Sterling - used from 1942 to the spring of 1944, highest priced line.
• Coro Sterling - used after WWII, silver with no gilding, a lighter weight and quality.
• CoroCraft - registered in 1945 but used from 1944 until 1947I.
• Pegasus mark - used after WWII.

Click for examples of Coro and CoroCraft jewelry and the different signatures used.

Sarah Coventry - Sarah Coventry, Inc., Newark, NJ, since October 1953, ( 1 ), p. 141.

de Lillo, Wm - William de Lillo was born in Belgian, and worked for Tiffany and Harry Winston in NY before joining up with Robert F. Clark (former head designer for Miriam Haskell) to form the de Lillo creative team in 1967. Their costume jewelry is of the highest quality and ingenious design, using the finest Swarovski crystal stones and beads. De Lillo and Clark moved to France in 1976 where they created costume jewelry for Nina Ricci, Schiaparelli, and high society European grandes dames. They are concentrating more on sculpture in recent years and have settled in Arizona.

DENICOLA - In business from 1957 to 1970. The company's 1926 slogan was the "real look". DENICOLA jewelry is hard to find..

DeRosa - Used sterling silver from 1942 until 1949.

Diamonbar - Diamonbar bracelets were made by the Wachenheimer Bros. Inc. company, manufacturers of costume jewelry, from Providence, RI. They began business in 1907 and ceased operation in 1931. ( 4 ), p. 246.

Eisenberg - Eisenberg originally produced clothing at its beginning in 1914. Eisenberg began to market its jewelry around 1930. In 1958, Eisenberg began production of jewelry exclusively and abandoned its clothing line. In 1977, Eisenberg became a part of Berns-Friedman. Early Eisenberg jewelry was not marked. From late 1943 unitl mid 1948, the company used sterling silver. Sterling pieces are highly collectible, especially the figurals. For some examples of Eisenberg jewelry and the different Eisenberg signatures used to help you in dating, click here .

Eisenberg Signatures:

• Eisenberg Original - used from 1935 to 1945.
• Script letter E used alone or with Originals - 1940s.
• Script letter E used on Sterling - early- to mid-1940s.
• Hallmarked STERLING in conjunction with the block EISENBERG signature - 1943 to 1948.
• Block EISENBERG and block E - c. 1945 to 1950.
• EISENBERG on marker in small block letters - c. 1950's.
• Script Eisenberg - registered in 1981, used as early as 1935.
• Eisenberg Ice in block letters - used as early as 1941 till 1958.
• Jewelry manufactured between 1958 and 1970 was not usually marked.
• Script Eisenberg Ice - use began in 1970's.

EMMOLITE - Emmons Jewelers, Inc., Newark, NY used this mark for base metal composition made into costume jewelry. First used January, 1955."

EMMONS - Mark of Emmons Jewelers, Inc., Newark, NY for costume jewelry. First used March, 1949.

Florenza - Dan Kasoff Inc., New York, NY, 1937 to c. 1981. According to Larry Kasoff, surviving heir to the company, Florenza was in operation from about 1937. Florenza operated under the name Dan Kasoff, Inc. as a manufacturing industry, and did not start marking its own production jewelry FLORENZA until 1950. Florenza went out of business in 1981. ( 1 ), p. 69, ( 5 ), p. 251. For some examples of his work and the different signatures used on his pieces to help you in dating, click here .

Francois - Coro tried to give their costume jewelry a "French" touch and Francois was chosen as the name for their higher end jewelry. The line was introduced in 1933. But the line only lasted until 1944 when it was replaced by Vendome as Coro's Couturier division. Francois was one of the new designers at Coro in 1938. He later went on to found his own company, with costume jewelry designs marked Francois.

Freirich - Freirich was started by Solomon Freirich in the 1920's when he bought Maison David, a major manufacturer of hats, dress trimmings and ornaments. In France, the name stayed as Maison David, but in the US, it was changed to Freirich. The mainstream of its business remained garment trimmings, dress and hat ornaments as well as hat pins. Freirich also produced buttons for famous American and European designers such as Chanel and Dior. In 1955, Arthur Freirich, Solomon's son, joined the firm and increased it's costume jewelry line. Freirich's jewelry has been mistaken as being Victorian, but they didn't start signing their jewelry until the 1960's. So if the piece has the Freirich signature, you know it wasn't made before then. Freirich closed in 1990.

Goldette - A popular 1960 to 1970's mark. Goldette was marketed from New York but may have been manufactured in Rhode Island. Quality made jewelry which has a lot of collector potential.

Grossé - Grossé is the later mark for the German company, Henkel & Grosse. They've been in business in Pforzheim since 1938, produced jewelry for Christian Dior since 1955. The accent over the "e" was added for the benefit of the French who were not thrilled to be dealing with a German company after the war.

Stanley Hagler - Stanley Hagler began creating his fabulous costume jewelry designs in New York in the late 1950s and continued designing until approximately 1993 to 1994 when health reasons forced him to retire. Hagler was a one man operation until 1979 when Mark Mercy joined the company as a contributing designer. Mr. Mercy remained with the company until 1993.

In 1983 Stanley Hagler relocated his company to Florida and Mark Mercy made the move with him. In 1989 Ian St. Gielar joined the firm as a contributing designer and remained with the firm until 1993 as well. After his move to Florida, Mr. Hagler changed the company name tags to read STANLEY HAGLER N.Y.C. [where both the word STANLEY and N.Y.C. follow the curve of the oval tag] to differentiate them from those used while he was in New York. During his company's presence in New York, name tags reading STANLEY HAGLER where the name runs straight across the tag had been used.

Stanley Hagler Signatures:

• STANLEY HAGLER - used from 1950's to 1983.
• STANLEY HAGLER N.Y.C. - used from 1983 to the present.
  [ Click here to see an original of both tags.]

• Please note: These were the only tags used by the company during Mr. Hagler's lifetime. There was never a name tag without a period after the C in Stanley Hagler's lifetime. Common law trademark law entitles either Mark Mercy or Ian St. Gielar, or both, to use the STANLEY HAGLER N.Y.C. tag legally even today.

In 1993 there was a downsizing of the Company due to Mr. Hagler's health problems. Two new companies emerged, Mark Mercy for M&M Designs and Ian St. Gielar under his own name. Both Mark Mercy and Ian St. Gielar continued to contribute designs to Hagler's Japanese line (all signed STANLEY HAGLER N.Y.C.) until Mr. Hagler passed away in 1996.

Hagler jewelry can be identified by the layers of elaborately detailed hand work. Hand wrapped colored seed beads and seed pearls are set on Russian Gold plated filigrees along with Swarovski crystal rhinestones and various colored cabochons. These pieces were made with various colors and pearl with crystal.

Miriam Haskell - The firm began operation in 1924 and , having gone through many changes of hands, is still in operation today. Most pre-war jewelry is not signed. Script "Miriam Haskell" inside an oval or block "Miriam Haskell" inside a crescent-shaped cartouche are marks used since 1938. For some examples of her earlier unsigned pieces, click here.

Hobé - Hobe Cie was founded in New York in the 1930s by Frenchman William Hobé. Sold only to the most upscale stores. Slogan "jewels of legendary splendor" introduced in ads in the 1940s. Particularly well known for his romantic floral brooches in the form of a bouquet of long-stemmed blooms and leaves, held together by ribbons and a flower-studded bow. Pieces made between 1935 and 1955 are the most collectible of his works. Signed Hobé or on an oval plaque © Hobé. Company still in operation. ( 2 ) p. 95.

Hollycraft - Hollywood Jewelry Manufacturing Co., Inc., New York, NY, 1948 to c.1965. ( 1 ), p. 82; ( 5 ), p. 251.