Authentic costume jewelry, originally made popular during the "Roaring Twenties", is considered a hot collector's item today and has rapidly appreciated in value in recent years. Vintage costume necklaces, bracelets, and other pieces were purchased by American soldiers in French boutiques and brought home after the first world war. U.S. companies began dominating costume jewelry design and manufacturing from the late 1920's onward. Signed vintage costume necklaces, rings, and other pieces are worth more money. Some popular American companies known to produce high quality and highly collectible pieces include:
Trifari Eisenberg Art Carnegie Coventry
But why are some costume jewelry pieces more valuable than others and how do you identify the collectible pieces? The very first true costume jewelry appeared on theatres throughout Europe before being brought back to the States by American G.I.'s returning home from World War I. American manufacturers began dominating the industry from the 1920's onward. Trifari, Coro, and dozens of American manufacturers soon began producing the designs and pieces that are some of the most prized collectibles on the vintage market today. If you know what you are looking for and can distinguish the worthless knock-offs from the genuine Eisenberg necklaces and other top pieces, then you can literally make a great living--while having fun in the process! Value is determined by:
Rarity of Piece Demand Design Quality of Construction and Materials Current Condition
The supply of vintage pieces is not evenly distributed which is a large reason why there is so much diversity in pricing. The jewelry itself was supplied by dozens of manufacturers. Batch sizes could vary dramatically from one company to the next. Coventry, Coro, and other larger manufacturers often made thousands of pieces for every design. On the other side of the coin, McClelland, DeMario and many of the smaller players might only produce a few hundred of each design. When other pricing variables are held constant, signed pieces from the small companies tend to be worth more money. Still, careful research is required because even larger manufacturers sometimes produced specialty batches. These were smaller batches making the pieces more valuable than others produced by the same company.
A piece of jewelry can be rare but command little demand for some reason or another which will greatly affect value. Basically, the higher the demand, the greater the price and vice versa. For anyone looking for the hot items right now, signed Miriam Haskell vintage jewelry is the best bet despite being a bit eccentric in design. Being able to identify the hot items from the pretty imitators is what separates the successful collectors from the mere hobbyist. Avid collectors tend to include popular pieces in their collections because they are more profitable. In many cases, the collector doesn't even like the particular piece!
So what factors actually affect the demand for any given piece of jewelry? Demand for a piece is stimulated most by the actual design of the jewelry. Seasoned collectors will not hesitate to shun a signed piece in favor of an unsigned one featuring a unique and impressive design. Ultimately, the unsigned piece often proves profitable because it commands greater demand. A large portion of the entire vintage costume stock is unsigned despite having been made by some of the most respected companies in the industry. Being able to identify quality or exceptional designs is one way to spot the unsigned but valuable pieces. Some of the most profitable unsigned pieces by manufacturers who consistently produced high quality designs include those by Holycraft and Florenza.
The quality of the stones and craftsmanship will ultimately determine the success and overall popularity of any design. In particular, the gemstone quality is of particular relevance to the value of any vintage piece of jewelry. Gemstones of exceptional quality were consistently used by a few of the major manufacturers. Jewelry designs by Bogoff, Weiss, and Eisenberg tend to be high value collectibles primarily because of their exceptionally high quality.
Unless you happen to stumble across an unsigned Eisenberg piece, you will find it hard to find this high-quality jewelry at bargain prices. If you are trying to find some profitable pieces to purchase at cheap prices but still command a lot with serious investors, look for jewelry made by these companies:
Danecraft Kramer Bogoff Weiss Monet
The final component of the value determination is based upon the current value of the jewelry. Expect lower values for vintage costume pieces that have discoloration, rust, excessive wear marks, or even lost stones. Despite having noticeable signs of wear, most vintage jewelry pieces are still worth more today than when they were originally sold. But if you know how to locate the unsigned gems hiding in flea markets and online auctions every day, then you can really make a bundle collecting vintage costume pieces--even those with excessive signs of wear!
Weiss
Created in 1942 by a former Coro company employee named Albert Weiss, Weiss has become one of the most popular and collectible names in vintage costume jewelry collecting. Weiss is synonymous with gorgeous and elegant rhinestone pieces including brooches, necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Sadly, the Weiss company went out of business in 1971, therefore their pieces are very collectible and the most beautiful pieces including figurals like birds and animals routinely sell for high prices on auction sites and in both online and offline stores. Watch out for reproductions of Weiss jewelry, many less knowledgeable sellers on eBay will sell a reproduction as a true Weiss. Real Weiss jewelry is of exceptional quality, you can often tell a fake from a real piece by viewing the details of the piece with a loupe. Also, some Weiss fakes have a textured backing, where real Weiss is very smooth. The stamp may also be offset or a bit difficult to read. Real Weiss generally has a strong stamp with clear lettering.
Eisenberg
The Eisenberg company began in 1914 as an apparel company. Then sometime in the 1930's, they created and began to market jewelry pieces. Like Weiss, Eisenberg is known for high quality craftsmanship and for using high quality materials, including sparkling Austrian crystals. Their earliest pieces were marked as "Eisenberg Original" and later on they marked their pieces simply "Eisenberg" or "Eisenberg Ice". The Eisenberg company still makes jewelry today but obviously the older pieces are the most collectible. For a time in the 1940's, Eisenberg used sterling silver in their pieces and any pieces in sterling silver are very collectible. Their pieces in sterling silver will be marked as such.
Hobe
Pronounced ho-bee, Hobe has been a name synonymous with fine quality costume jewelry since the 1920's. The Hobe family actually started making jewelry in France in the late 19th century, then William Hobe founded the official company when he came to the US from France in the late 1920's. Hobe jewelry is characterized by it's excellent quality of craftsmanship, usage of gold and silver plated settings and quality stones. During Hollywood's golden age, Hobe jewelry was a favorite of Hollywood stars and their finest pieces could be seen adorning starlets wardrobe's in many classic movies. Hobe pieces were all marked, with the name Hobe typically stamped in a stylized Art Deco style script with an elongated H or B or in block letters. The original, family run Hobe company stopped producing jewelry in the early 1990's, however a Hobe company exists that still produces jewelry marked as Hobe up to today.
Coro
The name Coro actually comes from an abbreviation of the original founders last names, which were Cohn and Rosenberger. The company was founded in New York around the turn of the century and later incorporated with the name Coro. The Coro company was one of the most, if not the most, prolific producer of costume jewelry in the 20th century. At one point during the 1920's, the company was said to have employed more than 2000 workers in producing their lines of costume jewelry. The Coro company prided itself on producing costume jewelry for a wide range of customers, and as a result you could find Coro pieces available in both a local five and dime store and also find finer Coro pieces in high end department stores. Coro's finest pieces could certainly compare in craftsmanship, design and quality to well known, highly collectible names like Weiss and Eisenberg. Due to their massive production, Coro used well over 100 styles of marks, stamps and variations of marks on their jewelry, sometimes changing their marks every year. Coro also produced jewelry under other brand names such as Vendome, which is highly collectible, CoroCraft, Cellini, Francois among many others. Highly collectible Coro pieces include their famous "jelly belly" pieces, sterling silver pieces including those marked MEXICO and their "Coro Duette" line.
Other Collectible Names
While these names are some of the most collectible names in costume jewelry, they certainly aren't the only collectible names. More collectible names include Art, Lisner, Napier, Trifari, Boucher, Miriam Haskell, Carnegie, Florenza, Kramer, Sarah Coventry, Schreiner, Van Dell, Whiting & Davis, Bogoff, as well as others.
Both Sandi Kapiszka & Ricky Alberta are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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