Saturday, August 29, 2009

Coro trademark abandoned!

As of January of this year the last remaining "live" Coro trademark has been abandoned. Last owned by FGX International (they make Foster Grant Sunglasses), they have let the trademark for Coro lapse. In recent news I saw that they had plans to sell their jewelry division.

So, at this point, searching "Coro" in the US Trademark listings, shows that all of the jewelry Coro trademarks (just the ones that are exactly the name Coro), are listed as "dead", either expired or abandoned.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Dating items by patents - legit?

Some jewelry books have theorized that when you find the patent date of a jewelry design, that it is a good indicator of when the item was made and sold. Styles and designs changed often and so it makes sense that finding a patent would be a good indicator of when the piece was sold.

I've been wondering just how well that theory holds out and so have started some research comparing patent dates and advertisement dates. Here is one example, a Mazer pin, which really only brings up more questions than answers but give some clues, and has me hankering for more info!
In this case, there is about a year between when the patent was granted and when the pin shows up in the ad. What I don't know, is whether the pin had been sold all through 1941 and this is just the first ad that I happened to find, or was it not produced and sold until almost a year later?

This is a face pin from Mazer as shown in patent D123910. The patent was applied for in September of 1940 and granted in December 1940.



And here is the pin as shown in an ad from November 1941

I am sure there are those would say that dating a piece to the 1940-1941 time frame is pretty darn good! And I agree. But what if the companies patented an item years after it was produced? Or what if, once patented, it was sold across many years? (a more likely scenario in my opinion). I am intrigued to see what patterns I can find and will report more as discover more!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

The Hope Diamond gets a new setting - you can vote for which one!

The famous Hope Diamond is getting a new setting in honor of the 50th anniversary of Harry Winston's donation of the diamond to the Smithsonian Institution. Harry Winston's has designed three new possible settings and you can visit the Smithsonian's web page to vote for the one you like best. Click here to vote: http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/site/smithsonian/hope.html

They are also having a contest were you can submit a design of your own. Here is more info on the contest: http://www.designyourhope.com/

Friday, August 21, 2009

Terrific site for researching Owl Pendants!

I ran across Daniel W. VanArsdale's wonderful site and photo gallery of vintage owl pendants today. He has very carefully cataloged and then organized them so they are easy to search if you are trying to identify a pendant. You can visit his site here:

http://www.silcom.com/~barnowl/Owl-Pendants.html

A good site to keep handy when you need it!

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Coro white beads - 1953 and 1962

Two ads showing Coro's spring line of white jewelry. One from 1953 and one from 1962. In both ads, the beads are described as "porcelain". It is interesting to see the similarities and differences in the styles almost 10 years apart.

(click pics to enlarge) Left (first) pic is 1953, right (second) pic 1962


Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Affordable Costume Jewelry?

Looking at the advertised price in 1947 for this pretty CoroCraft pin, I got to thinking that $29.95 must have been pretty expensive in 1947. I wondered just how it would compare in today's prices. Searching the Internet I found a couple of calculators that will let you enter the price in whatever year and convert it to 2009 dollars, taking into account inflation and the CPI. Putting in the price of our little pin, it caclulated that it would cost almost $290 in today's dollars. Wow! Would I spend that much on a "costume jewelry" pin? Granted CoroCraft was the higher end from Coro, but it would have been a real treat to purchase, at least in my budget!


Monday, August 10, 2009

"Snob Appeal" a quality of those who wear antique jewelry?

In 1957, the LA times reported that an un-named jewelry manufacturer did a study on what type of woman wears what type of jewelry. The conclusions?

Women who wear lots of bracelets and other baubles are warm and extroverted
Women who balance their jewelry with their wardrobe are organized
Women who wear bizarre unconventional jewelry are insecure
and finally
Women who wear antique jewelry are "definitely a type of snob appeal". (editor: uh oh, that's me! LOL)

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Trifari's Cute Colorful Cabochon Critters!

From a 1953 ad, the "Animal Kingdom" line is described as animals made with "Trifanium set with ruby red, emerald green, sapphire blue and Moonstone" cabachons. Pins with earrings to match.
click pic to enlarge

Thursday, August 6, 2009

The 1932 Bicentennial - red, white and blue jewelry

I recently ran across some ads for "bicentennial" celebration jewelry in patriotic themes and red, white and blue color schemes. Not so unusual except that the ads were from 1932! Thinking about the celebration here in the US in 1976, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of our nation, I wondered what the 1932 bicentennial was. It turns out it was the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Washington and there were celebrations throughout the year. Below is an example of an ad from 1932 showing some of the jewelry created in the bicentennial theme.

click pic to enlarge

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Trifari manufactures two lines: The Basic Line and the Fashion Line

I found this interesting tidbit in the background section of a lawsuit against Trifari in the 1980's. They describe that during this time, "Trifari manufactures under it's name, two lines of jewelry, a Basic Line and a Fashion Line. The only difference between the two lines is that Basic Line styles tend to remain the same over time, while the Fashion Line styles change approximately every six months. The Basic line constitutes abou seventy percent of the company's business"

I wonder if this was true over the life of the company, or only during the time surrounding this lawsuit - the 1980s?

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Sytle notes - Bibs in 1949

Seen in a department store ad from 1949 - "not mere costume jewelry but a most important part of the costume. Bold, gold-washed chains..gleaming metallics mail ..or mock pearls fashioned in loops and swirls". They mention that some of the brands they have that feature bibs are Monet, Coro and Trifari. They do not specify which brands are shown in the ad.
click pic to enlarge