Les Bernard JewelryLes Bernard JewelryLes Bernard JewelryLes Bernard Jewelry
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            Knoll and Pregizer Jewelry History
            August 24, 2019
            Decorated Like a Christmas Tree – Life Magazine 1952 – Jewelry Article
            August 24, 2019

            Les Bernard Jewelry

            Published by Mark Lewis on August 24, 2019
            Categories
            • Jewelry Designers
            Tags
            • Costume Jewelry
            • designs by Les Bernard
            • Inside The Jewelry Box by Ann Mitchell Pitman
            • Les Bernard jewelry
            • Les Bernard jewelry history
            • vintage

            Costume Jewelry Collectors Int’l
            is pleased to host
            RESEARCHING COSTUME JEWELRY
            originally created and published by Dotty Stringfield on IllusionJewels.com

            LES BERNARD JEWELRY
            from
            Inside The Jewelry Box
            by Ann Mitchell Pitman

            Printed with permission of Ann Mitchell Pitman and Collector Books
            ©2004

            Les Bernard lion pin. Photo courtesy of Ann Mitchell Pitman.

             

            Les Bernard was extremely inventive, combining materials and design styles previously unheard of in jewelry manufacturing. One of their registered trademarked innovations was a process called “Diamond Point Texture” according to the book Masterpieces of Costume Jewelry by Joanne Dubbs Ball and Dorothy Hehl Torem. They show an example of a prancing horse, whose entire body is covered with tiny indentations made by a diamond-pointed tool. The horse has genuine ruby eyes, another Les Bernard innovation. Many of their designs feature genuine precious and semi-precious stones.

             

            Another Les Bernard concept is the use of marcasites and rhinestones in the same piece of jewelry, previously unheard of because of the difficulty in manufacturing. Marcasites are flat backed while the rhinestones they used were pointed backed, making the hand setting painstaking. They even put this [lion pin] design into gold-tone jewelry, which gave the marcasites a “warm coppery hue” according to Ball and Torem.
             

            Les Bernard designs cover the spectrum of fine tailored-look jewelry, to whimsical figurals, to an Art Deco Influence.
             

            Les Bernard heavy gold collar. Photo courtesy of Ann Mitchell Pitman.

            Collector/dealer Pat Seal believes Les Bernard jewelry is undervalued by collectors, which is certainly true, as most costume jewelry books either barely mention Les Bernard or don’t mention it at all. And since they were in business until the 1990’s, many collectors view it as a contemporary manufacturer and overlook it. Seal believes many collectors want big jewelry, and many of the best Les Bernard designs are small.

             

            Now is the time to seek out Les Bernard for your own collection. Many website and antique stores have Les Bernard jewelry available starting at five to ten dollars, and of course the dealers who know Les Bernard have their most beautiful work priced accordingly. Once collectors realize the quality, genius and talent behind this company, it should become highly sought after and collectible.
             

            Visit the RCJ Marks Guide for more information on Les Bernard.
             


            Researching Costume Jewelry — Home

            Copyright 1997 to present — www.costumejewelrycollectors.com — All Rights Reserved.
            All RCJ publications and pages were created
            by Dotty Stringfield with the assistance of research contributor Pat Seal
            and other valued members of the costume jewelry collecting community.

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            Mark Lewis
            Mark Lewis

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