Beaucraft Sterling Silver Musical Note Screw Back Earrings

These whimsical little musical note earrings were made by Beaucraft in the 1950s-1960s.  This company is another of the wonderful American jewelry companies based in Providence, Rhode Island, the "heart of the jewelry manufacturing world."  Beaucraft produced fine sterling silver pieces for over fifty years, from 1947 through 2004 (when the owners decided to retire).  Beaucraft jewelry is highly collectable and is known for its uniqueness and impeccable craftsmanship. 

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in purchasing this piece.  Questions, comments, and additional information are always appreciated.  My online shop on http://www.ebay.com/ is coming soon.

Thank you to the following website(s) for the historical content of this blog post:

Amsco Online. Retrieved 3/7/2011 from http://www.amscoonline.com/home/aco2/page_2549/more_about_beaucraft_....html

Sterling Silver Mermaid In Shell Clip Earrings

These are one of my favorite pairs of earrings that I currently own.  I actually acquired these several years ago, but I cannot remember where.  They are marked "925S OJO" and I cannot find out any information about them anywhere!  I believe they are handmade by an artist from either the Southwestern United States or Mexico.  Any additional information from my readers would be greatly appreciated. 

According to http://www.katieojewelry.com/: "The mermaid with the body of a woman and the tail of a fish is a symbol for fertility, eternal grace and beauty.  As with many water creatures she is associated with the moon, mystery, and the unconscious.  Residing in the cosmic ocean from which all life has emerged and into which it must eventually return, the mermaid also represents  renewal, purification, wisdom, and infinity."

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in purchasing this piece.  Questions, comments, and additional information are always appreciated.  My online shop on http://www.ebay.com/ is coming soon.

Thank you to the following website(s) for the historical content of this blog post:

Katie O. Jewelry. Retrieved 3/6/2011 from http://katieojewelry.com/jewelry-resources/amulet-symbol-meanings/mythical-creature-symbology-in-jewelry-design/mermaid-symbols-in-jewelry-design.html

Lisner Rhinestone Flower Screwback Earrings

These rare silvertone earrings were made by Lisner in the mid-twentieth century.  They each feature a rhinestone center and leaf, along with 5 petals made of a high quality plastic which are often referred to as "jelly leaves."  Lisner used expensive materials such as lucite and Austrian rhintestones in their extremely popular jewelry from the 1950s.  The company name was changed to Lisner-Richelieu Corporation in 1978. 

After emmigrating to the United States from central Germany in 1864, David Lisner began selling "fancy goods" along with his brothers and father in New York City in 1869.  David Lisner founded the D. Lisner company in 1904.  They imported much of their pieces from Europe until the 1930s, then contracted a company in Providence, Rhode Island to begin making their jewelry new line. 

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in purchasing this piece.  Questions, comments, and additional information are always appreciated.  My online shop on http://www.ebay.com/ is coming soon.

Thank you to the following website(s) for the historical content of this blog post:

Collectics. Retrieved 3/5/2011 from http://www.collectics.com/education_jewelrydesigners2.html

Illusion Jewels. Retrieved 3/5/2011 from http://www.illusionjewels.com/Lisner_jewelry.html

Ultracraft Goldtone Star Brooch

This goldtone brooch is very pretty and well-made.  It was manufactured by Ultracraft Company Inc., a company founded by Luigi Guadagno who was born in Alife, Caseta, Italy in 1936.  I could not find any significant historical information online about this company.  This piece appears to be fairly contemporary, but may date back to the late 1980s.  Please feel free to contact me with any additional information you may have. 

I like star motifs, so I decided to look into the history of the star.  According to http://www.wikipedia.com/, 5-pointed stars have the following significance:

"The five-pointed star, if drawn with points of equal length and angles of 36° at each point, is sometimes termed a golden five pointed star.  If the colinear edges are joined together a pentagram is produced, which is the simplest of the unicursal star polygons, and a symbol of mystical and magical significance. Originally, the five-pointed star (pentangle), forming a pentagram within it, represented the ten tribes of Israel that broke away from the ruling class of Judah, Benjamin, and the Priests. There are ten "Vav" or "man" that form the five points. Later, satanists turned the star upside down to form the face of a dragon (or goat) which gave the symbol an evil demented meaning (the representation of Satan). A circle was also added around the Israelite Star because it was the letter "Samek" meaning, "death". Today's modern Pagans tend to use all three symbols, rather than making any distinction. The golden five-pointed star is a very common ideogram in the western world, and has particularly strong associations with military power and war. Many communist countries (such as China and Vietnam) and symbols (the hammer and sickle) also incorporate five-pointed stars."

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in purchasing this piece.  Questions, comments, and additional information are always appreciated.  My online shop on http://www.ebay.com/ is coming soon.

Thank you to the following website(s) for the historical content of this blog post:

Illusion Jewels. Retrieved 3/4/2011 from http://www.illusionjewels.com/costumejewelrymarksu.html

Find A Grave. Retrieved 3/4/2011 from http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6584478

Wikipedia. Retrieved 3/4/2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_(symbol)

Sutton Lucite Watch Necklace

I am guessing this cool watch is from the late eighties.  The back of the watch is also clear, showing all of the inner workings of the watch which are in red, white, blue, silver, and gold.  It reminds me of a Swatch Watch from back in the day!  This watch is made by Sutton, a division of the E. Gluck Corporation which was established in the 1980s to produce name-brand watches for sale in department stores.  This watch is unique because it was sold as a Sutton watch (not made and branded for another company) and it is also marked on the back "E. Gluck Trading Company." 

This watch is totally encased in lucite.  Lucite was developed in 1928 by the Rohm and Haas Company under the trademark "Plexiglass." It is a shatter-resistant transparent thermoplastic often used as an alternative to glass.  It is easy to handle, inexpensive, does not contain harmful BPAs, but it can be brittle under certain conditions and is more prone to scratching than glass. 

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in purchasing this piece.  Questions, comments, and additional information are always appreciated.  My online shop on http://www.ebay.com/ is coming soon.

Thank you to the following website(s) for the historical content of this blog post:

Wikipedia. Retrieved 3/3/2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poly(methyl_methacrylate)

E. Gluck. Retrieved 3/3/2011 from http://www.egluck.com/default.asp

Sarah Coventry "Golden Cluster" Bracelet

Another sweet design by Sarah Coventry, with each link consisting of a black painted leaf alongside a goldtone bunch of grapes.  This bracelet is from their "Golden Cluster" collection which also includes clip earrings and a brooch/pendant (which I, unfortunately, do not own).  Through my research, this bracelet appears to be from the 1960s.  Sarah Coventry almost always made their jewelry in a parure, meaning each collection had 3 or more matching pieces. 

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in purchasing this piece.  Questions, comments, and additional information are always appreciated.  My online shop on http://www.ebay.com/ is coming soon.

Thank you to the following website(s) for the historical content of this blog post:

Amazing Vintage Jewels. Retrieved 3/2/2011 from http://www.amazingvintagejewelry.com/sarah_page_30.htm#GOLDEN CLUSTER

Reinad Silvertone Clip Earrings

These simple, but well-made earrings were produced by the Reinad Novelty Co, Inc. of New York City, somewhere between the early 1940s through the mid-1950s.  I was immediately drawn to them because they look like pewter (one of my favorite jewelry materials!) but I am unsure what they are actually made of.  Reinad jewelry is extremely rare, and was manufactured between 1922-1954.  They produced few pieces under their own name (hence the rarity of signed Reinad designs!) and were, for the most part, a wholesale facility which produced jewelry for many high end companies such as Boucher, Carnegie, and Eisenberg.

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in purchasing this piece.  Questions, comments, and additional information are always appreciated.  My online shop on http://www.ebay.com/ is coming soon.

Thank you to the following website(s) for the historical content of this blog post:

House of Francheska. Retrieved 3/1/2011 from http://www.house-of-francheska.co.uk/vintagereinad.htm

Illusion Jewels. Retrieved 3/1/2011 from http://www.illusionjewels.com/costumejewelrymarksr.html