Foiling the Style Pirates: Costume Jewelry Exclusives, Patents and Copyrights by Robin Deutsch for CJCI
June 9, 2014Early Canadian Sterling & Enamel Souvenir Jewelry
August 1, 2014THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE ARE PAST CJCI CONVENTION SPEAKERS:
Elyse Karlin of ASJRA
(Association for the Study of Jewelry and Related Arts)
Elyse Zorn Karlin is a jewelry historian and journalist. She is the publisher/executive editor of Adornment, The Magazine of Jewelry & Related Arts and co-director of The Association for the Study of Jewelry & Related Arts, open to anyone who has an interest in studying jewelry.
Karlin is a noted speaker and an expert on jewelry of the Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau movements. She runs an annual conference on jewelry open to all jewelry lovers and is working on a book about jewelry of the American First Ladies.
To visit ASJRA’s website, visit Association for the Study of Jewelry and Related Arts. To contact ASJRA please visit: ASJRA Contact Page
Julie Irving
Julie is the owner of Chapel Hill Vintage Jewels and has been a collector and antique dealer for many years. Born in Western New York, she accompanied her parents on week-end outings to estate sales and antique shows and began her collection and love of vintage costume jewelry. Her professional career as a marketing and sales executive for high tech companies allowed her to travel extensively, both in the United States and in Europe. Everywhere she went she would visit outdoor markets and antique shops, museums and exhibits collecting and studying vintage jewelry and antique linens. Since retiring, Julie is able to accompany her husband Steven, a UNC Professor, on his business trips to pursue her passion and the worldwide hunt. Her special interest and the focus of her recent research is the study of Elsa.
Schiaparelli and Her Extensive Jewelry Collaborations
Julie is an active member of the Costume Jewelry Collectors International and the American Society of Jewelry Historians. She holds a Masters Degree from Northwestern University and a Certificate in Non Profit Management from Duke University. She has studied jewelry through courses with the late Christie Romero, Christie’s Education in NYC, NYU Short Courses and CJCI! Julie is a frequent speaker at local events on Vintage Jewelry and on options for downsizing all kinds of collections.
Schiaparelli Jewelry: A Study of Collaboration
The purchase of a large collection of Schiaparelli 1950s jewelry began my search for information on everything related to Elsa Schiaparelli, her life, her couture creations and her jewelry. Trips to the Library of Congress, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Paris Museum of Decorative Arts and lengthy conversations with BillyBoy*, author of Frocking Life: Searching for Elsa Schiaparelli have provided some important insights. This session will provide new information clarifying the attributes of her couture inspired jewelry and those created as a result of her licensing agreements.
Deirdre Zahl
Deirdre Zahl is the designer and owner of Candy Shop Vintage, a vintage and vintage-inspired jewelry company. As a collector of vintage jewelry for over a decade, pieces from her rotating collection of vintage jewelry have been featured in magazines, national blogs and even on the hit show “MAD MEN.”
Deirdre launched her line of vintage-inspired costume jewelry in 2013 with the goal of creating a line that reflects the quality and craftsmanship of the vintage pieces she collects. Her whimsical designs successfully debuted at Bloomingdale’s and Henri Bendel in New York and are now sold at boutiques around the country, including, her shop located in downtown Charleston, SC and her online shop candyshopvintage.com . Her collection of designs, known as the Candy Shop Collection, are designed and made in the U.S.A. – primarily in the Rhode Island Area. Through her jewelry adventures, Deirdre met and became friends with Kris Ciulla, the vice president of Ciner Manufacturing, and current owner, Pat Ciner, who is the founder’s granddaughter. Working together, they launched their first capsule collection, The Fantasy Garden in the Spring of 2017 to celebrate CINER’s 125th year in business.
Erik Yang
Long-time CJCI members know Erik Yang as an astute costume jewelry dealer with an amazing customer base. He is also fervent collector with exceptional taste and discernment when it comes to buying and selling the best of the best.
His extensive knowledge of both vintage and contemporary designer jewelry make his presentations both entertaining and informative. He previously made a presentation on the topic of Mexican silver, one of his many specialties as a dealer and collector, at a past CJCI convention.
In 2017, Erik will present “The 1980s: The Trends, the Influences, and the Designers” to correlate with the theme for our Lifestyles of the Rich and Fabulous weekend.
Sharon Schwartz
New Jersey native Sharon Schwartz graduated from Drexel University with degrees in home economics and early childhood education. In 1988 she formed, Of Times Gone By, an antiques business specializing in handbags, vanity items, and linens. An active vendor at major antique shows in the Philadelphia area, she has been an online retailer for over a decade.
Sharon is the co-author of Eisenberg Originals: The Golden Years of Fashion, Jewelry, and Fragrance, 1920s-1950s. Her Eisenberg collection includes many unusual and rare pieces.
GUEST DESIGNERS
Kevin Friedman
As a long-time CJCI supporter, lecturer, and instructor, Kevin is back by popular demand! Kevin will be teaching a specific beading technique to give participants hands-on experience in learning some of the bead-design work of his native South Africa. Each student will be giving a project to complete during class.
About Kevin
Renowned South African jewellery designer Kevin Friedman has captivated both the local and international jewelry trade with his one-of-a-kind pieces which use an innovative combination of high cartage gemstones and precious metals with ordinary everyday “found objects”.
Kevin is a renaissance man who draws on the world around him for inspiration and creativity. His highly original, fresh approach to contemporary jewellery design, such as the extraordinary $16 million Ponahalo Necklace created for the Geneva-based Steinmetz group, is attracting major international interest. This extraordinary necklace – composed of a 316,15 carat diamond which was cut into five stones, combined with beads and 276 safety pins and made into a Marie Antoinette-style necklace – debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007. The necklace and other examples of Kevin’s cutting-edge designs featured in luxury US magazine LuxLife in 2008.The Robb Report also devoted a page to this piece, saying that the necklace was “the most exciting piece of jewellery ever created”.
A lifelong fascination with the distinctive arts and crafts of South Africa has proved a valuable inspiration for his work, and he has been involved in meaningful community development projects with local crafters. Proof of this is his well known Ndebele bead and diamond choker, modeled by Charlize Theron, which garnered Kevin a De Beers Diamond International Award in 2000.
Kevin’s custom-made pieces have featured in the “ultimate catalog” Neiman Marcus Christmas Book, as well as in Gumps Magazine and Woman’s Day Magazine. He also created a line of beadwork Christmas decorations for the Designers’ Guild in London. In addition, he has designed a line of pewter and wood desktop items for Tiffany & Co in New York.
Kevin travels extensively for both discipline and inspiration. He makes custom-designed pieces for corporate and independent clients all around the world, although his focus in on the United States. He has done trunk shows from New York to Pittsburgh through to the Napa Valley, and shown at London Fashion Week.
On the home front Kevin’s beadwork, in particular his iconic Ndebele tree topper Christmas angel, for which he won an award from the South African government, is now appearing in the eighth definitive issue of SA Stamps. “My angel will be flying all over the world,” he quips.
A recent highlight was the collaborative exhibition with Apple at their iStore in Johannesburg which was a resounding success. Each piece of art and jewellery was a one-of-a-kind using Apple components, now technologically redundant but revived through art. It was a unique concept.
Kevin has been director of design at Frankli Wild™ African Classics in Johannesburg since 1989 and has built up a blue-chip clientele. He is part of a seven-generation line of jewelers. His grandfather Jack Friedman, who was born in Riga, Latvia, set up a jewellery manufacturing factory in Johannesburg in 1934. Jack was a founding member of the South African Jewellery Council and both he and Kevin’s father Frank were extremely influential in the South African jewellery industry. Frank won many international awards set up by the Gold Council and the then Chamber of Mines.
Kevin says that his father was particularly encouraging during the course of his career, allowing him to experiment and to push the envelope, while teaching him that education is the starting point of strength.
Kris Brandriff
Kris grew up in the jewelry capital of the world, Rhode Island, USA, but her interest and exposure to jewelry didn’t peak until later in life. Her course of studies at the University of Rhode Island in Textile Science planted the seeds of appreciation for all things fashion. But her interest was slanted to the creation of fabrics – manufacturing the thread, weaving the cloth and assuring that the stitching held – rather than the end product: a beautiful dress, coat or suit.
After graduation she worked in the Quality Assurance Department for a medical products manufacturer and gathered a strong manufacturing and quality assurance background. That training opened the door to her later work in the Quality Department at a division of Hallmark Cards, Trifari Jewelry, in East Providence, Rhode Island.
During her decade long career at Trifari/Marvella, and eventually Crystal Brands, owner of Monet, Kris was tasked with working with the manufacturing personnel, suppliers, and some of the greatest designers in the world, to create a product that not only looked great, but would stand the test of time as a long lasting keepsake. She traveled world-wide sourcing parts, suppliers, and setting up offshore manufacturing processes. She established quality guidelines and inspection points to assure the art being shipped to the customer was the best it could be.
Kris’ career allowed her to have the opportunity to participate in the creation of some pretty magnificent treasures as they evolved from a drawing to the exquisite, finely crafted jewelry seen today in many collections.
Since Kris left Trifari/Crystal Brands she has expanded into product management for consumer products and even has a patent pending on an automotive product she and her husband collaborated on. Working at Trifari, Kris acquired some of the more unique pieces. Little did she know with her acquisitions, she would become a collector and those pieces would be the foundation for her collection. Her collection, with its strong Trifari and Monet foundation, has some very inventive and intricate designs, because when Kris looks at jewelry, she looks Beyond the Design.
Barbara A. Schwartz
Barbara Schwartz is a vintage costume jewelry retailer, researcher, writer and speaker. She combines her life-long passion for jewelry with her research and analytical skills and interest in social history. Her website (www.trufauxjewels.com), blog (www.trufauxjewels.com/blog), published articles, and lectures focus on jewelry as accessories to fashion and on fashion as a reflection of/reaction to world events and social conditions.
With an eye for high-quality and unusual pieces made in North America and Europe from the 1920s – 1950s, Barbara is an expert in helping women select wearable pieces that are just right for their personal style. She creates ensembles that she publishes on her Polyvore site and often features in blog posts. She recently wrote “How to Wear Vintage Costume Jewelry” for style expert Deborah Boland’s website: http://www.fabulousafter40.com/how-to-wear-vintage-costume-jewelry. The article gives tips on choosing contemporary earrings to wear with a vintage necklace and today’s clothing and accessories.
Barbara is a member of the Costume Jewelry Collectors International, Association for the Study of Jewelry & Related Arts, American Society of Jewelry Historians, Vintage Fashion Guild and Costume Society of America. She is a former librarian, records manager, and information management consultant with Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science degrees.
Mary Ann Docktor-Smith
Mary Ann Docktor-Smith is a vintage jewelry collector, historian, dealer and member of Costume Jewelry Collectors Int’l. She also creates artisan jewelry using vintage and natural stone beads, polymer clay and cork. Mary Ann is an expert on Selro jewelry, and Florenza jewelry and the history of Dan Kasoff Inc. She has presented on vintage jewelry topics in several venues, including CJCI Annual Convention, Bead Society of Greater Chicago, Chicago Botanic Garden, and 2007 VFCJ Vintage Jewelry Cruise.
Mary Ann’s two-part article Costume Jewelry Manufacturing Concepts appeared in the Fall and Winter 2010 issues of Costume Jewelry Collectors International magazine. She has also written several articles for The Jewelry Ring, including a monthly column, Jewel Notes from Mary Ann.
Before becoming a full-time jewelry dealer, Mary Ann spent many years in the financial services industry, first as a business-owner, and later as a relationship manager with a large international bank.
Mary Ann lives in Chicago with her husband, Randy Smith, and is an avid reader, traveler and gourmet cook. To visit Mary Ann’s website go to Anna’s Vintage Jewelry and Mary Ann, Mary Ann Designs (http://www.annasvintagejewelry.com). Contact email: mdschi@aol.com
Susan Klein Bagdade
Susan Klein Bagdade is the author of “Mid Century Plastic Jewelry” from Schiffer Books. Formerly, Susan wrote the “Bling & Things” Column for “Antiques & Collecting Magazine” and is an active member of the Chicago chapter of (CJCI) Costume Jewelry Collector’s International. She got her start in the antiques business working for Leslie Hindman Auctioneers and spent five years as the Senior Manager of Client Accounts for Sotheby’s Chicago. For three seasons, she worked as a production assistant on the popular HGTV television program “The Appraisal Fair”. Susan’s day job is as the Director of Richard Norton Gallery in Chicago, a gallery specializing in Modern and Impressionist art, but costume jewelry is her passion!
Katerina Musetti
Katerina Musetti is a couture jewelry designer and owner of KM Designs.
From as early as Katerina can remember art has been a part of her soul. She has been painting, silk-screening, bead embroidering, working on a potter’s wheel and designing and selling couture gowns since the age of thirteen. Her father had a woodworking studio where he would produce the most awesome designs with incredibly gorgeous rare woods, while my Mother painted, upholstered and sewed. Art was a constant in our home….so was Mario Lanza, Beverly Sills and Opera.
The Visual and Performing arts have always been closely integrated for her and she knew that at some point in her future the two would merge. During her performance career in Europe, which spanned over nine years, she would carry her canvas and oil paints to rehearsals. She painted in the evenings and on the weekends while in production. One summer while walking in a piazza in Milano, she approached a woman wearing a colorful necklace and asked her what the material was. It was during this time that she discovered the wonderful medium polymer clay.
She began experimenting with FIMO and CERNIT which eventually led to her line of OPERA PURSES, VESSELS and JEWELRY. Most of the pieces incorporate image transfers from her original oil-paintings with techniques she developed over time. Many of the pieces are inlaid with precious and semi-precious stones including citrine, tourmaline, peridot, amethyst, zircon and diamonds.
Today, Katerina works as a couture jewelry designer and applies her passion toward designing and creating contemporary rhinestone jewelry. The jewelry is reminiscent of the bygone days that were filled with everything glamorous and over the top. For the jet-set, she also designs an exclusive avant-garde line. Her one-of-a-kind rhinestone creations are all hand soldered with meticulous attention to design and detail. Swarovski crystal rhinestones are the canvas in which she paints, while incorporating vintage cabochons and art glass from Czechoslovakia, Japan, Germany, Italy and other places around the world. Her pieces are big, bold and elaborate with the necklaces designed to also be worn as angled collars. Most of her brooches are over five inches long with sultry dangle earrings designed to fall to a beautiful mid-neck length. Bracelets can be created in most styles including large cuffs and multiple link designs. Her entire line is plated in 14K gold and bears the “Katerina Musetti Designs” hallmark.
Katerina Musetti, is also the author of The Art of Juliana Jewelry (Schiffer Books). For more information please visit www.katerinamusettidesigns.com.
Karin Zwaneveld
Karin Zwaneveld was born in The Hague, the Netherlands, and now resides in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands.
During her career, she has specialized as a dealer in Art Nouveau and Art Deco interiors and jewelry for 16 years and has lectured on Art Nouveau artists at the local museum of her hometown. With old world charm, the front side of her house, located in the center of Apeldoorn, is her shop. As an active dealer, for over a decade, she has participated in the annual Art Deco fair in The Hague.
Having focused on Art Deco jewelry, Karin became intrigued by collecting and selling vintage costume jewelry. As a dealer today, she has one of the largest collections of vintage costume and haute couture jewelry in Holland. Her selection includes Christian Dior from the 1950s-1970s, Yves Saint Laurent, and Lanvin, as well as an extensive collection of Jean-Louis Scherrer. These Scherrer pieces have only been worn by the models on the runways of the Haute Couture shows in Paris in the late 1980s.
Now she eats, sleeps and breathes vintage costume jewelry and tries to spread her enthusiasm in the Netherlands while participating in numerous antique markets and fairs. This task is not an easy job, because unlike in the United States and United Kingdom, Dutch women are not familiar with this kind of jewelry and are a bit more reluctant to express themselves in opulent clothes or exuberant accessories.
Karin enjoyed meeting like-minded jewelry enthusiasts and sharing her research on Jean-Louis Scherrer with fellow attendees at CJCI Convention 2014!
Want to know more about Karin and her shop? Visit: www.art-deco.eu or email her at: info@art-deco.eu
Anthony (Tony) Angeli
In 1956, Anthony (Tony) Angeli began his jewelry career in Rhode Island at the age of 17. Tony began working for one of the head designers, Helen Marian, assisting Helen in the Vendome jewelry line that was designated the Expensive Jewelry Line of Coro Inc.
The Vendome jewelry sold to high-end retail stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord and Taylor, etc. Several years later, Tony attended the Rhode Island School Design for jewelry sample making and model making courses. His training and education with RISD led him further into the creative design field with Vendome. During his career at Vendome, he worked under the umbrella of the head designer, Helen Marian. Tony maintained a close relationship with until her passing.
In 1966, Tony decided to leave Coro Vendome to venture into his own business, Hillcraft Inc. Through his business, he designed and manufactured costume jewelry that was sold to wholesalers including Tacoa Inc., Shalom International, Capri, Kramer, and Gaul.
At the age of 39, buyers approached Tony to purchase Hillcraft Inc., and he accepted. However, after a year of “retirement,” Tony made the decision to open a second jewelry company, Tona, Inc. He also .became a partner in Tacoa Inc. until the jewelry industry began to change as the Retail Stores wanted to buy direct from the Manufacturer rather than the Wholesaler.
Tony’s knowledge, creativity and commitment to the jewelry industry is truly extensive beginning with the actual design process through the manufacturing elements including model making, casting and plating.
Tony has a private collection of unusual Vendome jewelry including prototypes that are available for sale at the Rhode Island Antique Mall in Pawtucket, R.I. Pieces from this rare collection will be available for purchase at the Costume Jewelry Collectors Int’l public jewelry show and sale being held Oct. 17, 2015, at the Radisson Hotel Providence Airport.
Koral Michael Whalton
Before the age of 18, Koral Michael Whalton was traveling independently throughout the United States. His journey into the field jewelry began in Tucson, Arizona, where he apprenticed with a silversmith. Under the silversmith’s guidance, he learned the “lost wax casting” method of silver work and learned to carve wax and fabricate metals into jewelry.
Later, he became interested in costume jewelry. He was introduced into ‘white metal’ casting through a designer for the Pell Company in Long Island City, New York. Through the Pell Company, he was introduced to the Scannavino line of costume jewelry.
Michael’s company, Halcyon Studios, purchased Adrian Scannavino’s life’s work and created a massive archive. The archives consist of antique-finished jewelry circa 1945, raw castings (Pennino, Pell, Marvella, and more), models, molds, tools, stones, and items spanning from the 1920s through the ’60s.
During the early 2000s, Michael worked with late Donald S. Hobé of Hobé Jewels. He also created the wedding jewelry for the CBS film, The Rosa Parks Story: Ride to Freedom, which starred Angela Bassett as Rosa Parks and Cicely Tyson as her mother. Both actresses wore Michael’s designs in the film. Michael went on to create fine jewelry for Ms. Rosa Parks’ 89th birthday; Feb 4, 2002.
The Detroit Institute of Arts displayed the original stage jewels under the direction of Mr. David Penny, the institute’s curator for Indigenous North American Art. Michael went on to create an 18 karat green gold and diamond jewel for the actor Danny De Vito in commemoration of the film, The Big Fish.
In 2003, Michael created jewelry that appeared at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. for Hank Williams, Jr.’s tribute to Tee Tot Payne. Tee Tot Payne was Hank Williams, Sr.’s musical instructor when Hank was a child.
Currently, Michael works with silver, gold, platinum, and white metal. His designs range from Indigenous North American to antique art jewels, to organic matter preserved to look like leather. So far, his journey has been exciting, rewarding, and anything but boring.
Michael has been selling the last remaining pieces of finished jewelry from the incredible Scannavino archive.
Melinda Lewis
Melinda L. Lewis is the author of The Napier Co.: Defining 20th Century American Costume Jewelry, Life By Design Publishing, 2013. As a jewelry historian, she has been involved with the online vintage costume jewelry community for the last 14 years, with a focus on The Napier Co. over the past 11 years. She writes a monthly column for Your True Colours magazine on the topic of vintage jewelry.
She is co-founder of Costume Jewelry Collectors Int’l (CJCI), an organization for collectors and dealers dedicated to the study of vintage costume jewelry which hosts an online venue for its members. She served as co-editor for CJCI’s quarterly magazine in 2010 and co-hosts annual jewelry conventions held in bi-annually in Providence, RI, alternating in even years in locations around the country.
Melinda has also worked with internationally renowned fashion stylists and publishers to provide jewelry for books and print-base advertising in magazines. Her jewelry collection has been featured in M.A.C., Anna Sui, Pascali, and on the cover of Italian Vogue as well as editorial spreads in the publication. Her jewelry has been featured in Vintage Jewellery: Collecting and Wearing 20th Century Designs, Carltons Vintage, by Caroline Cox.
Lewis is a grandmother, and mother of two grown girls, and resides with her husband in California. Other interests involve studying fashion and vintage magazines, advances in the treatment for fibromyalgia and chronic migraines, and brain biochemistry.
Barbara Raleigh
Sponsored by the Providence Women’s Jewelry Association, jewelry veteran Barbara Raleigh, whose knowledge and experience ranges from the big picture to the smallest detail will be presenting at this year’s 2015 Costume Jewelry Collectors International Conference. Barbara has served the jewelry industry from 1978 to date.
From her art background, she began her career designing and producing one-of-a-kind enamel and karat gold works shown in numerous galleries in New York City. Her career in the costume jewelry industry began at Trifari, one of the oldest and most famous brands in the history of costume jewelry, where she was Vice President of Design. There she managed every aspect of the business from design, creation and development to manufacturing, sourcing, product development, marketing, merchandising and sales. Then at Etienne Aigner, she pioneered their jewelry lines and collections helping to build a $14 million company. She has also helped grow the businesses of other international and domestic companies from small start-ups to bigger established firms. She has traveled the globe working with manufacturers and designers from the Philippines, China, Japan, Italy, and England among other countries. Barbara has spoken at jewelry trade shows and organizations on trends and directions, taught at Fashion Institute of Technology as an adjunct professor, and even had her own television show in the United States and the United Kingdom on QVC, where she worked as a consultant and creative director to the jewelry department.
Barbara’s current venture, International Design Source based in New York City, was founded in 2010. Barbara’s serves her clients by utilizing her expertise in all aspects of the business, from concept and development to sourcing, manufacturing, merchandising, and sales. Her business travels to the fashion meccas of the world to research and report on upcoming trends and directions. Her trend forecasts published twice a year, Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter, offer her customers information about current fashion movements, demonstrate why these forecasts are important, and illustrate how they are interpreted in other industries and by the competition.
For more information, please contact: Barbara Raleigh at brtrends@aol.com
Mike Ruggiero
Mike Ruggiero began his career at The Napier Co. in 1978. He started as a skilled model maker in the design department. In the 1980s, his skill and understanding of white metal casting helped Napier with the expansion of manufacturing by using this technique in-house. This expansion led to the establishment of the company’s first model-making facility in Providence, Rhode Island. Mike’s skills went beyond model making and he soon became known for his talent in jewelry design. In 1985, he became vice president of design for Napier and remained with the company through its subsequent acquisitions.
Mike’s designs from 1980s, especially the Napier crystal stone pieces, are greatly sought after. Mike currently serves as the senior designer for IBB/Jule B. Formerly he served as director of jewelry design for Crimzon Rose Int’l., FGX Int’l, design consultant at Easthill Mfg, and design manager at Artist Empire Jewellery. During Mike’s career, he has worked on several private label brands for department stores such as Macy’s, Bon Ton, and small chains.
Currently Mike lives in Rhode Island with his wife, and in his spare time enjoys seeing his grandchildren.
About IBB group /Jule B
The IBB group (International Bullion Brokers) is a privately owned, an international group of companies located in Florida, the U.K., and Thailand.
The U.S. division is a designer and distributor private label sterling silver jewelry to retailers throughout the U.S including Macy’s, Kohl’s. J.C.Penny, Belk and Bon Ton department stores and many specialty stores. The sterling division sells under the name IBB. The Jules B. division is the costume side of the business and is relatively new. In less than two years, Jules B. has gained distribution in several major retailers and is continuing to gain recognition for its unique approach to costume jewelry and successful acceptance by the consumer.
ADDITIONAL PAST SPEAKERS
Harrice Miller
Marcia Sparkles Brown
Tina Joseff
Rosie Rhinestone
Cathy Gordon
Erik Yang