Designers intended early twentieth-century costume jewelry to resemble precious gems. “The look of real” was best exemplified by the work of designers like Henri Boucher and Alfred Philippe. Philippe, who trained in Paris, worked at several fine jewelry firms before moving to Trifari. Trifari’s work, such as this bracelet, is expertly constructed to resemble its precious stone counterpart.
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New England jewelers like Zoe and Delfina Parenti created striking pieces in both classic and Modern styles. This mid-century cocktail ring in silver set with cut rock crystal combined a traditional floral motif with a contemporary aesthetic. The Parenti sisters were in the vanguard of women moving into jewelry design after World War II. Their Boston studios offered artisan jewelry until the 1970s.
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Jewelry manufacturers based in Providence, Rhode Island, and North Attleboro, Massachusetts, some of the largest employers in the region, produced quantities of costume jewelry that were sold nationwide. These jewelers are among the unsung heroes of the American fashion industry. Coro, Trifari, Monet, Little Nemo, and hundreds of other manufacturing jewelers made good quality, stylish adornments available to a wide range of consumers. By the 1950s and ‘60s, costume jewelry had moved beyond approximations of high-end products to sets of well-made jewelry in styles ranging from the demure to the exotic. Some companies even offered mid-century Modern lines that resembled the handcrafted pieces of Ed Wiener, Paul Lobel, and others. These businesses maintained showrooms and sales departments in New York but manufactured their products in Providence to draw on the large talented labor force. The manufacture of each piece required the skills of drafters, model makers, casters, platers, stone setters, and polishers.
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Coro. Private collection.
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Historic New England Spring 2014