St Bernard to the Rescue!

I always love jewelry with surprises or unusual features. This cute St Bernard puppy from Napier claims to arrive with an emergency dollar to rescue you from any unpleasant situation. (ed: I wonder if it really did come with a dollar inside?) From a department store newspaper ad in December 1942. (click pic to enlarge)

Rings or Earring? Can you tell?

Napier's clipless earrings seen in a newspaper ad from 1965. If you found these in a jewelry lot, would you think that they were earrings? Not me, I'd probably assume they were rings!

(click pic to enlarge)

Ivory from West Germany - 1968

A combination I hadn't seen before, Ivory jewelry from West Germany. Newspaper ad from 1968

(click pic to enlarge)

Jewelry Deception in Washingon D.C.?

Seen in a gossip column from an April 1890 newspaper, discussing Washington DC society...

"I have heard of women hiring jewelry, but I do not believe this prevails to any great extent here. There is an immense deal of shoddy worn, and half the brilliants you see at a White House reception are rhinestones. The stones worn by Senator's wives and millionaires' daughters are supposed to be pure, but who can tell? The fact that they wear them would, if they were paste, make them pass current, and the better class of imitation stones are so fine that it is now impossible for any but a dealer to detect the false from the true"

Joe Namath Punts a Poisonous Pin!

More on the saga of the poisonous pins! One newspaper story reported that television actress Kay Stevens had two of the poisonous pins in her possession along with a gold identification bracelet inscribed to "Broadway Joe", intended as a gift for Joe Namath. While staying in a hotel, those items along with an estimated $40,000 worth of jewelry was stolen from Miss Stevens room. The article describes that Miss Stevens was aware that the pins had been recalled, so I wonder why was she keeping them? Did she have plans for those poisonous pins? LOL!

I had to smile at another article which reported that an 10 year old girl had bought one of the pins for her mother. The mother's comment.. "I don't know what she will get me for Christmas now?" Soooo.. your young daughter has been walking around with poisonous jewelry and your concern is what you are going to get from her for Christmas? LOL!

By 5 days after the recall notice from Sears, the FDA reported that all but 252 of about 19,000 pins had been recovered or accounted for throughout the nation. Most of the pins, about 15,000 were initially in the possession of Sears, but 4,500 were in the hands of 33 other distributors around the country.

Here's a bit more specific info about the pins. The beans are shiny and egg shaped and are red or orange with black tips. The pins were from 1" to 2" across. They were imported from Japan by Alster Importing Company in New York. Apparently not all of the pins made had the poisonous beand. Each box of pins had 48 pins, with 12 in each box having the poisonous beans.

Shown below is a sample of the recall notice that was placed in
newsapers and another pic included in one of the news stories. (click to enlarge)

Poisonous Pins - the case of the deadly decorations

In 1968 Sears inadvertently sold pins that were decorated with deadly beans. The pins, imported from Japan, were discovered to be decorated with highly poisonous jequirity beans. The fact that the beans were poisonous was brought to Sear's attention when a man who worked for the Agriculture Department in Maryland, was shopping at Sears and noticed the beans.

Sears immediately issued an urgent recall for an estimated 300 to 400 pins sold nationwide in their stores.

There were two designs to the pins, one with a face, with the beans used as eyes, and one with a flower with the beans used in the center.

(click pic to enlarge)

Coro Jewelry for Teens - 1965 - "47 West"

In 1965, the Broadway department stores in Los Angeles unveiled a jewelry line created by Coro at the request of the store chain, designed to appeal to teens. The line was part of the "Hi-Deb" department at the stores and the jewelry line was named "47 West". In a press release announcing the new line of jewelry, the Broadway noted that the designs were two years in the making.

The article describes some of the lines included as:

• Greco-Roman design rings, 3 inch key pins and chain pendants
• An outsized wine keeper's key and chain that can be worn as a necklace or belt
• A-line animal pins with satin-toned pewter and brass finishes with a futuristic look (ed: what the heck is an "A-line" pin?)
• Kilt pins with enameled emblems
• Stamps with authentic old hand cancelled stamps that have been shellacked
• Makeup mirrors made to be worn like monacles
• Key chains with cigarette lighters that work
• Zodiac designs

I was able to find one ad with some of the designs included. (click pic to enlarge)

Everyday Manners for American Boys and Girls - 1922

Advice on the wearing of jewelry found in a guide to everyday manners, written by teachers for high school students in 1922......I wonder what those teachers would think of what kids wear in school today? LOL!

"Jewelry as a rule should not be worn by young people; the excessive use of it is in very bad taste. A school ring and at the most one other ring are sufficient adornment for a girl. Necklaces are apt to be a nuisance. Earrings and fancy combs are in bad taste and tend to make the wearer look tawdry"

Trifari Perfume Charm Bracelet - 1958

Thanks to our favorite intrepid reporter for finding this cool ad from 1958 for Trifari's perfume called Triége that can be clipped onto a charm bracelet! (click pic to view full size)

Lisner Black Beauty

From a 1948 ad - Lisner's Black Beauty- sparkling jet black beads. (click pic to enlarge)

Trifari Enamel Flowers - 1939

As seen in a newspaper ad in 1939. Trifari enamel flowers. The ad notes that designs are available in colored coral, cyclamen, baby blue or butter-cup enamel with hand-set stones (click pic to enlarge)

New jewelry that looks vintage..

I ran across a website today for a jewelry wholesaler that has quite a few items that look vintage. So, it might be a good resource to check when you are wondering if an item is "new" rather than vintage. I saw a number of vintage looking items, particularly in the "Pins" category. Unknown if they mark their jewelry, or if it is obvious in person that items are "new". but I did see a bunch of stuff that often shows up in the GW bags that I love to grab and dig through. LOL! The company is SW Imports.

Coro Oceana 1956 - sea shell shapes

Newspaper ad 1956 - Coro Oceana. Colors mentioned are shell pink, coral, sun-yellow and white, set in gold-tone. Blue in silver tone.

(click to enlarge)

"Many a life has been saved" ...with jewelry!

Found in a department store ad in 1943, a plea for people to donate their discarded costume jewelry to become "Barter Jewelry" for the boys in the South Pacific. A group of women connected with the Fourth Fighter Command were gathering the jewelry to send to the South Pacific for the troops to use for bartering for food shelter and information from the natives. Note the slogan at the bottom of the ad...it was certainly a different time! Wartime to be exact! (click pic to enlarge)

Style Notes - 1947 - Lacy Jewelry

From the L.A. Times - August 1947 - For jewelry.. "the trend is away from massive designs toward lacy work with a fragile look"

Ledo - Frozen Fire Pins - 1951

Newspaper ad - 1951 - Ledo Frozen Fire Rhinestone Pins. (click to enlarge pic)

Recycling your old jewelry - responsible or destructive?

One company, Foxy Originals, has started a recycling program where, if you send them your old Foxy jewelry, they will melt it down for re-use and send you a discount coupon to use on new styles.

I wonder what effect this may have on the collectibility of this jewelry. Now granted, it's a pretty new company, so at the moment, it would not be classified as vintage. But if it's jewelry that you believe will some day be collected, would this affect your decision to collect it now? Do you like the idea that they are promoting recycling, or cringing at the idea of perfectly good jewelry getting melted down?

Read more about their recycling program and their jewelry at their website http://www.foxyoriginals.com/

Coro and AAi trademarks up for sale

FGX International, which were the most recent owners of the Coro and AAi trademarks, has indicated this spring that they intend to sell their costume jewelry division. The costume jewelry division accounted for just 3.3 percent of sales in a recent report, and they mention that jewelry sales have been declining. FGX is best known for their sunglasses and eyeglasses brands, such as the Foster Grant brand, but they have also carried costume jewelry lines in the past.

On their website, I didn't see a specific description of the brand names of costume jewelry that they sell. But their financial reports indicate that they basically wholesale jewelry to major stores like Walmart and do house brands for various retailers.

A while back, I had discovered that they own the AAi jewelry trademark and checking the trademark listings today, I was reminded that they also own two Coro trademarks! Both the word mark "Coro", and the mark shown below with the pegasus. Both are listed as status: "dead" in the trademark listings.

So, since the trademarks are not current, it is unknown if they will be sold as part of the intellectual property when FGX sells the costume jewelry division. But it seems clear that they will no longer be using those trademarks.

Last fall I contacted them to ask if they had plans to reintroduce Coro as a brand, since they had acquired the trademark. They replied that they did not have any plans at that time. The AAi and Coro trademarks are listed as "dead" with the updated status as of January of 2009. AAi was cancelled. The Coro word mark was abandoned in 2009 and the Coro Pegasus mark expired in 2007.

Additionally, they have used the trademarks "FGX" and "Pure Expressions" for jewelry (according to the US Trademark listings). Pure Expressions is the only trademark for jewelry that is currently listed as "live". But the status for that one hasn't been updated since 2005

Coro - Pop beads - 1956

Newspaper ad from March 1956. Coro's pop beads. Colors mentioned are "spring pastels" and "first in Los Angeles, gold and silver tone"

click to enlarge

Style notes - 1927 - Hat pins

Seen in a newspaper article from 1927 - style notes from Paris describes the newest pins for hats as having definite shapes, getting away from the geometrical jewelry. Anchors, arrows and crescents are mounted by gold or silver chains on short tabs of ribbon, almost like a fob.

Coro - adhere directly to your skin! - 1951

I found this newspaper ad from 1951, it talks about Coro "Glamour Magic", "costume pieces that magically adhere to your skin with Glamour Magic Glue".

Here is the ad (click to enlarge)

Ralph de Rosa Rhinestones - 1935

As seen in a newspaper ad from 1935 - Ralph DeRosa Rhinestone jewelry

Coro Duette trademark first used 1929

Was digging through trademark records today, and found the record showing that Cohn & Rosenberger (Coro) trademarked the name "Duette" in 1929, stating that the Duette mark was first used Oct 10, 1929

B.A. Ballou back in business?

Michelle Graff at the National Jeweler website reports that W.R. Cobb Co in Cranston R.I outbid two other companies to acquire the name and assests of B.A. Ballou in the april 29th sale. W.R. Cobb is a 132-year-old manufacturer of jewelry findings, castings and precious metals for the jewelry industry.

Long term plans were unknown, but the article notes that the company is currently up and running and filling orders!

Monet 1937 - Hindu Bells

Seen in a Los Angeles Times ad from 1937, Monet introduced a line called Hindu Bells, "Today's version of jewelry worn by Indian princesses". The drawing shows a 3 strand necklace, 2 strand bracelet and a cluster pin. The style is chain with round bells hanging at intervals. The necklace has 5 bells per strand (15 bells total) and the bracelet has 3 (6 bells total).

Whiting & Davis "Florodora Bracelets" 1902

From the Jeweler's Circular Weekly, 1902, this ad for the new "Florodora" bracelets by Whiting & Davis. Shown is a snake bracelet with mention of 50 other patterns! These bracelets used a newly patented hinge mechanism that is described in the patent as allowing the bracelet to be "opened and held open until desired to be closed...and closed until desired to be opened".

click to enlarge the ad

Style Notes - 1937 - Convertible Jewelry

From the Los Angeles Time, Feb 1937

"Women are indulging in beautiful matched ensembles, in perfect separate pieces, or in single pieces that can be transformed into others"

"Bracelets are important. For daytime, heavy gold bracelets sometimes set with gems. Flexible gold or platinum bracelets with jeweled clasps fashioned from two clips that can be worn separately, and gold chain and link bracelets ad infinitum - all are smart with tweeds and sport clothes. For evening the formula is to wear as many on one or both arms asyou like"

"Brooches, very much in style now, are frequently made up of clips which may be used as such or as pins. Some of the newest clips turn on swivels to point up or down, according to the way they are to be worn"

New Book! Costume Jewelry 303 - the Flip Side

I'm a big fan of Julia Carroll's Costume Jewelry 101 and 202 books. Looks like 303 will be coming out in the fall! The title of the book is "Collecting Costume Jewelry 303, The Flip Side, Exploring Costume Jewelry from the Back". The description says that the book will focus on hardware traits, construction elements, interesting stones and signatures. This sounds really cool!!! I can't wait to get my hands on this one in the hopes that it lives up to the description!

You can pre-order the book from Amazon or Collector Books. Click the image below to pre-order on Amazon. (note: JewelryPatentProject.com gets a small percentage if you order from the link below - so if you'd rather not do that, you can go to Amazon directly or Collector Books directly and search for the book that way).

Consolidated page for researching Coro

Seems like I often need to research Coro items, as they are some of my favorites and I snap them up when I see them. Over time, I've found a bunch of great websites that have old Coro advertisements, patents and info on the various Coro marks.

So, I've consolidated my most often used links onto one web page. I'll keep working on it, adding more links, but the basics are there. You can visit the page on the main JPP website here. I hope you also find it helpful! I would love suggestions for more places to add!

Joolies Tweeting

Just for fun, I did a search on Twitter for "vintage jewelry" tonight. How cool to see people searching for jewelry, others selling and many just expressing their enjoyment of vintage jewelry!

Bye Bye B.A. Ballou?

Seen in the news at the National Jeweler Network website, B.A. Ballou and Co, Inc of Providence Rhode Island will be up for sale on April 29. Apparently another victim of the current economy, B.A. Ballou recently was put into receivership and will be sold on April 29.

A 140-year-old company, B.A. Ballou makes jewelry and jewelry findings. A quick search found patents that span the life of the company, including one as far back as 1880 for earring findings.

The good news, is that the article notes that there is at least one prospective purchaser.

Seen in a 1935 ad - Duoettes v Duettes

In a 1935 ad for Coulter Dry Goods Company in Los Angeles. A drawing of a generic "Duette" type pin, described as "two clips that may be instantly transformed into a brooch...available in many striking styles". It is called a "Duoette Clip". No manufacturer or brand is mentioned, so perhaps a play on the Coro Duettes available at the time - or perhaps a misprint, since this was during the time that the Coro Duettes were being introduced.

Coro "Tag" Bracelets - 1949

Coro Tag Bracelets were described in a 1949 ad as "Flexible link bracelets with a tag for monogramming." Think a charm bracelet with a flat charm that could be monogrammed. The tags (charm) could be square, round, rectangular and "charm" shapes.

There were different price points ranging from about $1 to $5 (in the two ads that I saw). And they were made from a range of materials. One ad describes the following materials:

• gold plated
• silver plated
• gold filled
• sterling silver

The ad also shows differing chain types; snake chains, and thick and thin regular type chains

Coro Victorian 1949 ad

Found in a newspaper ad from fall 1949 (click to enlarge)

Can a patent number be used on an item before the patent is issued?

Quick answer: Nope

Common sense would tell us that when you see a patent number on an item, it means that the patent has been formally granted/issued. But then, we are dealing with the government here, so I thought it might be a good idea to look it up to make sure. I was wondering if possibly the patent number was given to an applicant early in the process - just for record keeping. And if that was true, would some companies mark an item with a patent number before it was granted?

What I've been able to find on the US Patent site is, that it is definitely against the rules to include a patent number on an item before it is issued. And that the words "patent pending", or "patent applied for" have no legal effect. There is a separate "application number" that is issued at the time that the patent is applied for.

So, yep, if you see a patent number written on an item, it was manufactured on or after the date the the patent was issued.

Style notes - 1930 - Snake Jewelry

From the Los Angeles Times in 1930 -

"Snake jewelry, the latest fad in Hollywood last year, is all the rage in Europe"...

Actress Louise Brooks was in Europe starring in both French and German pictures and brought back news that jewelry of the reptilian type has become quite popular, especially in Paris.

Mentioned also is that "Hollywood jewelers, predict a return to this type of adornment"

Style Notes - Spring 1920 - Oriental and Egyptian

From a NY Times article, Feb 29, 1920....

"Bead necklaces continue to be good and jade is the leading color for the new season. Last Spring red was the color. There is a touch of the Oriental in all necklaces. One manufacturer displays a line of necklaces in both round and odd shaped beads. Complete sets, consisting of beads, bar pins, and bracelets, in which the same design appears are being shown. Some of the necklaces are beads and links, while others are made entirely of the beads

Bracelets are once again becoming favorites..... A vogue for wearing two or three bracelets one each arm is promised. Earrings will not be worn so much this Spring....a change in the style of coiffure must occur before much interest will be taken with earrings. Those that are being shown are mostly the long Egyptian designs, some of which seem almost like weights, because a large French pearl or fancy jade ball hangs on a slender sterling chain."

Krementz, Van Dell jewelry lines rise again?

From a press release on Business Wire... Bidz.com has aquired the inventory, intellectual property, trademarks and tools of the jewelry lines of the Colibri Group. The Colibri Group held a bankruptcy auction earlier this month. The lot purchased is valued at approximately $6 million.

Jewelry lines in the auction purchased by Bidz.com include:

• Krementz
• Van Dell
• Shiman
• Dolan & Bullock
• Taylor Avedon
• Angelite
• Skal
• Skalet
• Magical Years
• Little Miss Pride
• Sideways
• Darling Diamonds
• Fingerprint Locket

The company states that it expects to begin to auction the jewelry on it's website in May.

The CEO of Bidz.com, David Zinberg noted that "we are honored to have the opportunity to revive these iconic jewelry brands....Purchasing the trademarks and tools to Krementz, Shiman and others will allow us to continue to provide a broad and beautiful assortment of quality jewelry to our customers"

read the full press release here

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)

5 Designers for Carl-Art

A number of patents are attributed to Carl Schraysshuen a partner in Carl-Art. But I recently found some additional patents by other designers where Carl-Art was the "Assignee" (which generally means that the designer was working for, or "assigned" the patent to that company).

The designer names include: Paul F Volk, Gustav A Loercher, Frizt Regelmann, Laurence Valcourt and Eugene Demmler.

Check out the patents and some nice links to other Carl-Art info on the main JPP site, here

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.

How Popular is Vintage Costume Jewelry Collecting?

I heard somewhere that vintage costume jewelry was the number 2 collectible. So, I thought I'd see if I could track down some statistics to confirm that.

I pretty much struck out. I did find the reference where I heard the rumor though. The Kovel Antiques website, keeps track of the top 20 collector searches each month. In January 2009, "jewelry" was the 2nd highest search term. This is searching within their online price guide. So, while not a general statistic about the popularity of vintage jewelry collecting, it does mean that lots of people seem to be trying to establish jewelry values.

I did some more googling to see if I could find any statistics on the most popular collectibles and really didn't turn up anything useful.

So, unknown just how popular it is in general, but it sure is #1 in my book!

More Richelieu Grades..

Ran across an ad in a vintage jewelry reference book for Richelieu "pearls" last night that designated the items in that particular ad as quality level "J". Hmmm, wonder just how many grades there were? We are up to 8 so far.

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.

Tips on Reading Patents

Found a nice website with an illustrated example on how to read patents. It is nice in that it gives some detail on each of the sections of the patent and what they mean. For example, it explains that the filing date is generally used to determine the date that the inventor came up with his/her invention. Check out more here: http://www.inventorbasics.com/Patent%20Layout.htm

Secret Message in Abraham Lincoln's Watch

Did you hear about this cool story of the secret message that is contained inside Abraham Lincoln's watch?

The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History announced a few days ago that it had found a "secret" message engraved in President Abraham Lincoln's watch by a watchmaker who was repairing it in 1861 when news of the attack on Fort Sumter reached Washington DC.

In an interview with the New York Times in 1906, Jonathon Dillon recalled that he was working on the watch in 1861, and when he heard that the first shot of the civil war had been fired, he said in the article that he unscrewed the dial of the watch and wrote on the metal beneath: "The first gun is fired. Slavery is dead. Thank God we have a President who at least will try"

After being contacted by Dillon's great-great-grandson, the museum agreed to remove the dial to see if the message was inside. The message was found! It differs a bit from what Jonathon Dillon said in his interview, but it is fascinating..... click here to see a photo and read more about this amazing story! Apparently Lincoln never new of the inscription!

Be sure to check out the comments to the blog that accompanies the article. They add another element and some controversy to the story!

Duettes that aren't Coro?

In browsing the book American Jewelry Manufacturers by Dorothy Rainwater, I found reference to a company called "Certified Metals Company". In the description it shows a logo that says "Loves Duette" for wedding rings and engagement rings, and mentions an ad from 1978

Given that this brand was used for fine jewelry, and apparently generally for rings, it will probably not cause any confusion in identifying pieces that we may find, but just in case, I thought it might be good to know that the name was actually used for items other than Coro.

Searching European Trademarks

I ran across the official website recently for the Trade Marks and Designs Registration Office for the European Union. It describes the office as the European Union agency responsible for registering trade marks and designs that are valid in all 27 countries of the EU.

There are searchable databases - start here

I haven't seen specifically how far back the database goes, but they do mention that the office was created in 1996. I need to dig around some more to see if I can find the actual date range of data included in the database...so more on that later, if I manage to dig up the info

Krementz on the auction block

According to the National Jeweler magazine, Krementz, as one of the current lines of the Colibri Group will be auctioned off in Rhode Island on March 19.

Colibri recently shut down due to financial troubles. According to www.illusionjewels.com, Krementz was sold by the famly to Colibri in 1997.

Wonder where it will end up and whether anyone will continue to produce the Krementz line..we'll have to wait and see!

Leys, Christie & Co

Having found this ad in a copy of Jeweler's Circular 1902, I was off to see what I could find about this company.

They are still in business today, specializing in cultured pearl jewelry. So far, I haven't really found any info on the items they sold in 1902. I was able to uncover the names of the partners and some of the other trademarks that they used, but not much else. You can read more on what I found here if you are interested.

Cool Site with Patents and Photos of found items

Found a wonderful page by Elizabeth Rowlands showing photos of jewelry that she has found patents for! She has a photo and the patent shown together which is really cool! The page can be found here: http://www.emcity.com/patents.htm


She has items from Bogoff, Boucher, Coro, Danecraft, Mazer, Trifari and more!

Trademark infringement "Caro" vs "Coro"

Ran across a description of a trademark infringement case where Coro had sued a company called the "Caro Jewelry Company" for trademark infringement. The information I found is for the appeal, but has some cool tidbits.

First, don't panic! This isn't a case (as far as I can tell), where anybody marked actual jewelry with "Caro". Whew!

This was a case in Mississippi where a local jewelry store sold Coro jewelry. The store was then sold to new owners who named the company "Caro" and then apparently used block and script forms of the name that looked very similar to "Coro" in their advertising for the store. Coro won the suit, and you can read more about it here: http://altlaw.org/v1/cases/795346

The interesting (to me) research tidbits found in the case description are listed below. I am of the opinion that this type of background information provided in court documents is probably pretty accurate, as the information would seemingly be provided by the company to their lawyers at the time of the lawsuit

snippet from the case:

"The word "Coro" as a trademark was formulated by joining the first two letters of the names of the founders of the business, Cohen and Rosenberger, and since 1919, plaintiff has used in connection with the sale of its costume jewelry the name and style of "Coro" written both in block letters and in script. In 1921 plaintiff registered with the Commissioner of Patents the name "Coro" as a trademark and has used this trademark continuously since that date. And subsequent thereto it has obtained numerous renewals of its trademark in a number of forms and for a variety of jewelry items and ornaments"


Also, I'm kind of collecting the names of lawyers associated with Coro - thinking that this may be useful in "connecting the dots" of other research. The names of the NY lawyers listed on this case are: Ira M Millstein and Robert Todd Lang. I'm assuming the Mississippi lawyers listed were hired locally for this case.

Coro beads from Germany - before and after WWI

....more from Google books today.

In 1921 there were Senate hearings about a proposed law that would change the customs duties on imports after the war. Coro, through their customs agent submitted some information as testimony for this hearing. What I find interesting in this snippet is learning the name of someone that they purchased pearl beads from, both before and after the war. That being Heinrich Heinz of Geiersthal, Germany. Also interesting is the name of who signed this letter. Jerome H. Oppenheim Co. What is his relationship with Coro? For info, the name of the man that this is addressed to: Carl Stern, is described in the Senate testinony as working for the customhouse agent for Coro - M.T. Corbett & Co.

click the graphic below to see the full graphic if the right side is cut off on your screen - I didn't want to make is too small to read so I didn't shrink it to fit)

Coro factory conditions in 1915

Having recently discovered Google books, I'm having fun searching for tidbits. Here's one that I found today.

In the Annual Report of Factory Inspections of 1915 made to the Rhode Island General Assembly by the Chief Factory Inspector, J Ellory Hudson, the Cohn & Rosenberger factory is listed as having employed 60 men, 60 women, 4 boys under 16, 4 girls under 16 and sanitary conditions as "Excellent"! Sounds like a good report!

Trademark searching tip

Here's a tip for limiting trademark searches to only trademarks that are classified in the "jewelry" category of goods and services. Start by selecting the "Structured Search" option from the main Trademark page. Start at http://www.uspto.gov/, select "Trademarks", "Search TM database" and then "Structured Search".

In my example, I was searching for the trademark "FCA", so I put that in the first part - leave the field as "All", then make sure that you have the "AND" option selected. The fill in the word "jewelry" in the second line with "Goods and Services" selected for the Field name. This limits your search results to trademarks that have your search term (in this case for me, FCA), and that fall into the category of jewelry.

(click the graphic below to see the full graphic if the right side is cut off on your screen - I didn't want to make is too small to read so I didn't shrink it to fit)

Oldest design patent?

I went searching through the US patent site, looking for the oldest design patent I could find. The oldest one I could dig up in the database was from October 1858 for a locket. The designer is Albert C Randall of Providence Rhode Island. Was this the beginning of the prominence of Providence? It's hard to be certain that this is the oldest jewelry design patent, since the really old patents are often classified in unusual ways, but this is the oldest that is classified in the basic jewelry category.

Here's the drawing from the patent



It is described as "a new and ornamental design for lockets usually worn to decorate the person ..... the design consists of embellishing the sides...(some words are hard to make out)..valise formed lockets or charms for containing hair, likenesses and other souvenirs, with clusters of flowers or foliage ...and nail heads at their ends in such a manner as to give an ornamental finish and appearance...the configuration ..at the center consists of a stem, on which are formed flowers and other foliage of a corresponding ornamental character and the corners of the spaces between the ....bands and nail heads are adorned and relieved from their sameness by smaller configurations or chasings of flowers similar to those situated in the center and the sides of the locket or charm are thus made to present a simple, chaste and highly ornamental appearance in keeping with the objects for which the locket or charm is designed"

I have to say I love the "simple, chaste and highly ornamental" description! I did do a quick search to see if I could find any other patents by A. C. Randall at that time, but i did not see any. However, the only way to search these really old patents by designer name is with the Google patent search which relies on the computer being able to interpret text. Handwritten cursive text would be unlikely to be correctly interpreted. And in fact this particular patent is not listed on Google.

159 year old brooch patent.. special? - how?

I am fascinated by this patent from 1859. Patent #23042. When I first saw the drawing, it didn't strike me as particularly unusual, other than that is is a very old patent. A very nice pin with a design of a mother and children. But as I started to read the description I was amazed! This patent is for a photographic brooch! With the photograph made directly onto the glass front of the brooch! As an amateur photographer and joolie, my interest was piqued!

The patent describes enthusiastically that "a peculiar and beautiful effect is produced by placing a photographic picture upon the concave surface and the appearance of the finest enamel painting is readily imitated"

The process to make the brooch is described as using a watch crystal, which is held in the camera. ...the production of a permanent photographic or sun picture by causing the picture to be taken on a collodion film..on the surface of the glass. When the picture is finished, the concavity is filled with cement composed of gum shellac, resin and coal tar.

Pretty cool, considering that the National Geographic's website page about the history of photography says that the first permanent image was made in 1826 and the first photo of a person was made in 1839!

Marvella Mystery

Today I picked up this pretty Marvella bracelet which got me to wondering if Marvella had any patents. Although this particular bracelet has the copyright symbol, so I didn't really expect to find a patent (and didn't)

Looking at other research sites, I found that Marvella was created by the Weinreich Bros, so I was off to search for patents for either Marvella or the brothers. The other patent sites I did a quick check of, did not show any patents for Marvella.

However, a Google search turned up 3 possibilities. The names on the patents are either Sol E. Weinreich or Richard E. Weinreich. But were these THE Weinreich brothers of Marvella? Time for more research! (see below for the answer and more info)

Patent numbers: 163724, 153409 and 122619. Here are quick pics of the designs:

Are they Marvella patents? The quick answer is yes! It appears that they are! For more of the story (it's too much to put here in the blog), please visit the new Marvella page on the website, particularly if you need more details to try and verify a piece that you have found that matches the above patents.

Sarah Coventry - patents?

A question came up about whether Sarah Coventry patented their designs. I did a bit of research and the quick answer is that it doesn't look like it. However there are some utility patents and it was really interesting to read about patents all the back to 1892 for C.W. Stuart who started the companies that eventually included Sarah Coventry. I found so much info, that I put it all onto a page on the website.

I also got a kick out of one patent filed in 1972 for a "ring for two adjacent fingers". I wonder if they actually made this ring? oops, more research! LOL! Here's a drawing from the patent.

New patents in the Patent Browser

I've been able to do some downloading lately and have added some new categories to the patent browser page on the website. Categories d11-15 thru d11-20 have lots of chains and links. As an example, this Coro linked necklace:

So they are good categories to search for necklaces and bracelets.

Viewing copyright records

As I spend a lot of time searching through the US patent office patents and trademarks websites, I started to wonder about the whole copyright thing, which is also part of the USPTO website.

Visiting the US copyright office pages, I saw that you can search online for records after 1978, and then it said that if you visit the library, you can search for older records.

In looking at the online records (the ones after 1978), I noticed that while there is a description, there isn't an actual drawing or photo or anything. For example when searching for Trifari, the record will say something like "Forever collar : style no. 52246 - Necklace - 1982". Which in itself might at least be a good starting point for identifying items, but you really couldn't verify an item's identity completely.

So, I wondered if, when you are actually at the library, whether you could see the drawing or whatever they normally supply with the copyright application. It was rapidly getting clear I am really unclear on this whole copyright records thing. So, I sent an email inquiry to the copyright office asking if, when searching in the library, it was possible to see the full information. They answered very quickly. Although they didn't quite answer my question, and I'm not much clearer. Here is what they said:

A work submitted for registration is part of the public record in the sense that someone wishing to examine the work can request that we retrieve the copy from our off-site storage facility and make it available for inspection here in our office. There is a $150 fee for this service.

To request an inspection of a work, please contact the Certifications and Documents Section indicating the original registration number. They can inform you if the work is available for inspection.

It is very important that the records be clearly identified to minimize the time required for searches by the Copyright Office staff. These searches require a search fee in addition to the inspection fee.

So, one thing for sure, it looks like it can get pretty expensive in a hurry!! Although I am still a bit confused, since the website indicates that you can go and do your own research at the library. I wonder if all you can see there is the summary type records unless you request to "examine" a copy.

If anyone knows how this all works, I'd love to hear! I do have some relatives in the DC area, maybe I can talk one of them into wandering over there to see what they can find..

Would you wear it? A belt and brooch combined

I have to say this patent baffles me! An interesting idea, but somehow the practicality escapes me. LOL! Design patent number 106148 patented in 1937 by Herman Pomerantz of New York, it is simply described as a combined brooch and belt. The only detail in the description is that the pin has a conventional fastening mechanism on the back.

What do you think? I wonder if it was ever produced? Would you wear it?

I'm from Missouri - You'll have to show me..

I was downloading patents today and ran across this watch fob patented in 1906. I thought, gee, kinda cheeky to say that about Missouri! And the guy that patented it was from Arizona. Here's the patent drawing:

Well, a quick google brought up an explanation of the saying and the story is kind of fun. Basically it says that in the 1800's Westerners liked to refer to Missouri as the "Show Me State" implying that Missourians were slow and not very bright. Missourians turned the definition around and claimed that "show me" meant that they were not easily fooled. You'll find more of the story here

Wow! The new Brunialti books!

OMG! I just received the new books and they are wonderful! I had heard so much about the original ones, but had never seen them. If the new ones are anything like the old ones, I can see why they are so heralded! They have gazillions of photos and all have very detailed info. I haven't dug in completely yet, but of course, the first section I went to (after I flipped quickly oohing and aahing over the photos), was the patent section. Here's one thing that I have already learned ..so interesting!!!

Dating a piece by the "patent applied for" date rather than the "patent issued" date. I had thought that items were not produced until the patent was actually issued. In my mind, I figured that between the time the patent was applied for and when it was issued, the companies would not take the chance of someone copying the design, waiting until the patent was legally theirs before actually producing the piece. Brunialti points out that the reality was that the designs were probably produced and distributed right about the time that the patent was applied for. He writes that because the costume jewelry industry is a fashion industry, things moved very quickly. Designs were quickly outdated. So, more likely the pieces hit the streets as the patents were applied for and that by the time the patents were issued, they were outdated and the patent was something of a moot point.

The first post!

Okay, here I go with this new blog thing! Before I set the blog up, I was sure that I had lots to write about, since every day I discover new and interesting things about vintage costume jewelry and patent research. But darn if I can think of thing at this moment. thinking..thinking..thinking... oh! I've got an idea! On to the next post!