Thursday, July 30, 2009

W E Richards - trademark - 1908

As a fan of WE Richards jewelry, I was tickled to run across this ad from 1908. In addition to showing the trademark in use at that time, it also mentions that they used Amazonite in their jewelry, which may help when identifying pieces.

click pic to enlarge

Monday, July 27, 2009

Style Notes - 1951 - Curvaceous

From an article in the L.A. Times in 1951...changes in jewelry styles for the season include:

"designs that are feminine, curvaceous and delicate in shape. Earrings curve up the lobe and bedeck the ear with flower, leaf, ribbon or fountain-spray motifs. Throat hugging necklines curve in wave lines festooned with "floating" fringe.......the most fetching adornments....is the re-created lavaliere, a necklace and pendant made for each other. Flowers...ferns, feathers and bowknots are "frozen" into the lacy metal of bracelets, brooches and clips"

Shown below is a nice example from Trifari in 1951

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Fluttering Flowers and Gadgets - 1940

From a 1940 ad, a reference to movable flower pins with enamel and rhinestones. No brand name is mentioned in this particular ad. But what the heck were "gadgets"? At first I thought it was reference to pins, but in the ad, they specify "gadgets, pins and clips" as different things.


click pic to enlarge

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Coin-Tainers! Carry 40 cents with you at all times!

A fad that doesn't seem to have lasted long, at least in this version. Coin-tainers: chatelaines for your lapel to carry up to 40 cents in nickels. Seems like a pretty cool idea. I wonder why they didn't catch on? Maybe the change clanked too much while you wore it. LOL. This ad is from 1940. Note that the inventor is identified as "actress Ann Fulton". I didn't turn up much info when I did a quick search for more about her. Nor, did I find any additional ads or any patents for Ms Fulton's Coin-tainers.

click pic to enlarge

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Retro jewelry - 1937 styles inspired by the 1900s

It seems in 1937 some styles were inspired by the 1900s-1910s according to this ad. Included is a mention of jewelry in a "grape" motif in the "vintage of the 1900s". This is interesting to note when trying to date found jewelry. Keeping track of all the "revivals" of styles over the years can get really confusing!

(click pic to enlarge)

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Whiting and Davis manufactures for Coro - 1948

Seen in a newspaper ad from May 1948, "Two great designers put a bib on golden mesh...Whiting & Davis.... for Coro"
(click pics to enlarge)


Another ad from October 1949 - unknown if these were also made by Whiting & Davis. In this ad the styles are named: "King Arthur", "Joan of Arc" and "Warrier"

Monday, July 13, 2009

Rhinestones in your oatmeal - 1949

Eat your quick cooking oatmeal in the morning and then send away for your beautiful rhinestone jewelry! As seen in a newspaper ad from 1949. (click small pic to expand)




Friday, July 10, 2009

New website with terrific gem and jewelry consumer info!

I just found out about a new website that looks really interesting! The Roskin Gem News Report has 10 sections that cover everything from consumer news, to television gem and jewelry sellers, to estate jewels, to diamond and colored gem news and info.

In the first "issue", Gary Roskin, founder of the website takes us on a journey to learn about the the necklace that Michelle Pfeiffer is wearing on the cover of Style magazine this month. What is the necklace made of? What is the designer claiming it is made of? Is the designer telling the truth? We follow him on an interesting journey to find out just what the facts are.

Other articles discuss disclosures on black diamonds by the Jewelry Television shopping channel and info in the colored gems section on a new find of Color Change Garnets.

Gary Roskin founder of the website is a gemologist with over 3 decades of experience and brings a unique perspective to the topics covered. The information is very readable, and I for one, am happily anticipating all of the articles and topics to come!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Judith McCann's Wingback earrings - for Coro

In Oct 1949, this ad describes Judith McCann's "revolutionary" Wingback idea for earrings and shows how they work. It also says that she will be at the store to help people adjust their wingback earrings. The ad is titled "Wingback Earrings by Coro"

(click pic to enlarge)

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Danecraft Perfume Pins

I thought this was a nice idea. Seen in a 1960 newspaper ad. It describes Danecraft's perfume pins which had a hidden pocket where you could put "a drop or two" of perfume.

(click pic to enlarge)

Friday, July 3, 2009

Coro with real gemstones - Topaz and Amethyst

Found in an ad from Sep 1949 - the ad declares that "the law says you can't say real unless they're real". It then shows and describes pieces by Coro with Amethyst and Topaz stones, desribing them as "real, deep, flashing yellow topazes and purple amethysts".


(click pic to enlarge)