Richelieu Design Patents

Recently I found 46 design patents that I suspected belonged to the Joseph H Meyer Bros company who made Richelieu jewelry. While neither the Joseph H Meyer Bros company, nor Richelieu are mentioned in the patents, they are designs by Maximilian C Meyer, who according to a NY Times article from 1941 was the President of the company. Today I received an adverstisement from 1942 that confirms at least some of the patents! Here is an example of one patent, shown with a cut out from the ad of the item that matches. To see all the design patents, click here (page on the main JPP site). To see more about the patents, advertisements and grading systems for Richelieu, click here (page on the main JPP site)

Is Richelieu jewelry marked?

I have heard that Richelieu jewelry is not often marked. Most of the ads I have looked at show attached tags. I do know that the jewelry is sometimes marked, but found it interesting that in their trademark filing in 1943, they state that "The trade-mark is applied or affixed to the goods by attaching thereto a tag on which the trade-mark is shown" So, by their description both methods were used.

Grading simulated pearls. Richelieu 1924

Richelieu simulated pearls manufactured originally by the Joseph H Meyer Bros company were sold in different quality levels. Apparently the level was sometimes marked on the item. So far, I have found descriptions of 7 levels, "XXX", "A", "B", "C", "PO", "M" and "XL". The prices for the first six levels started at XXX as the highest, M as the lowest. I have not found info on prices for the XL level.

Each level is also described as being "perfect reproductions" of pearls from different parts of the world. For example, XXX grade pearls, sold for $50 to $300 (in 1924!) are described as "prefect reproductions of genuine Red Sea Pearls that cost from $5,000 to $200,000.

I have seen some info that I haven't pinned down yet, that some levels had clasps with diamonds, 14k gold, silver, etc. I'm guessing that this went along with the different grade levels.

If you'd like more info, and to see two ads from 1924 which describe the levels, I've created a page on the main JPP site with some of what I'm learning about Joseph H Meyer and Richelieu: here

Jewelry marked 'XXX' - who made it?

Doing some research today on Joseph H Meyer Bros company, best known for producing for "Richelieu" pearls, and happened to look at some of their trademarks, where I ran across "XXX"


Apparently, the trademark "XXX" was used as early as 1905 and is described as being used on pearl jewelry. The trademark was registered officially in 1950, so it was also in use at that time. It was renewed in 1971, but as of 1992, it was considered expired.