Monday 22 July 2013

Jewellery Rings For Women

Jewellery Rings For Women Biogarphy

Source(google.com.pk)
One of Tiffany’s contemporaries at the turn of the century, Marcus & Co., was founded by one of its former employees, German émigré Herman Marcus. Marcus left Tiffany to partner with Theodore B. Starr (to form Starr & Marcus in 1864), but in 1884 joined his son, William, and George Jacques to form Jacques & Marcus, which became Marcus & Co. in 1892.“Marcus & Co. was one of the most important American jewelers at the turn of the century,” says Lee Siegelson, a vintage jewelry expert and dealer based in Manhattan. “They created innovative gem-set and enameled pieces that rivaled those of Tiffany & Co.”The company closed in 1941, two years after participating in the 1939 World’s Fair—an event many historians reference as the moment American-made fine jewelry, via the participation of companies including Tiffany & Co. and Marcus & Co., officially came into its own. But the fruits of its skilled craftsmen remain highly coveted by dealers and collectors on the secondary market.Another notable jeweler producing heirloom-worthy pieces at the time was Walter P. McTeigue & Co., which manufactured stunning designs for all the big jewelry retailers in the first half of the 20th century: Tiffany & Co.; J.E. Caldwell & Co.; C.D. Peacock; Black, Starr & Frost; and Shreve, Crump & Low.Known for fine platinum and diamond jewelry in the Edwardian and, later, Art Deco styles, the company “was always a behind-the-scenes brand,” says Walter McTeigue, a descendant of the McTeigue family and former Harry Winston gem buyer who currently co-owns half of the fine jewelry firm McTeigue & McClelland. “It was the Belle Époque, and wealthy people were very wealthy. We were making really incredible things, though the company wasn’t widely known. The people who did know it associated it with quality.”Around this time, a group of jewelry manufacturers in Newark, N.J., including the long-standing Krementz & Co., composed America’s first epicenter for large-scale production of fine jewelry. The high-quality, lower-cost products they manufactured widened the reach and audience for fine jewelry. Suddenly, the middle class could aspire to own diamonds. Many of the craftsmen at these fabrication facilities ably copied the look of high-fashion jewelry from Europe. “The artisans made much less expensive Art Nouveau jewelry that was every bit as finely made as it was in Europe,” says Jonas. Tiffany & Co.
The first luxury jewelry catalog: Tiffany & Co.’s famous Blue Book
Founded mainly by German-born ­jewelry makers, the Newark manufacturers produced most of Tiffany & Co.’s silver up until the 1980s, and retailers (including Tiffany) supplemented their top-drawer baubles with less pricey pieces made in Newark workshops.Mass production of fine jewelry eventually spread up and down the Eastern seaboard, with firms such as Napier Co. in Meriden, Conn., bringing both fine and quality costume jewelry (a relatively new category) to a middle class quickly developing a taste for Holly­wood glamour at the local cinema.The Deco-Era Heyday of American DesignThe 1920s saw the rise of the Art Deco movement, characterized by geometric shapes and clean lines. Raymond Yard, a former head salesman at Marcus & Co., is perhaps most synonymous with the bold Deco look in the United States. Encouraged by longtime client John D. Rockefeller, Yard opened a store on Fifth Avenue in 1922 that quickly became a favorite among the city’s glitterati.But the original jeweler to the stars was Paul Flato, whose clients in the 1920s and 1930s included Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, and Vivien Leigh. “His expressive, daring style contrasted with the conventional diamond designs available,” says Siegelson, “and they appealed to the height of fashionable society.”Pansy brooches in ruby, $55,000, peridot and amethyst, $22,000, and amethyst and yellow sapphire, $26,000; Oscar Heyman, NYC; 212-593-0400; oscarheyman.com
Flato, who Jonas calls “one of the most imaginative jewelers in history,” opened a salon in New York in 1928 and an outpost in Los Angeles in 1937. The jeweler closed his business in 1943, but his figurative, often humorous style “reached its peak in the 1930s when Adolph Kleaty, George Headley, and Fulco, Duke of Verdura, designed pieces for him,” says Siegelson.The Great Depression stormed across the United States in 1929, but oddly enough, “the 1930s was an extraordinary time for diamond jewelry in America,” states Jonas. “New diamond mines had been discovered in South Africa, so everyone had stones. And Hollywood was huge in shaping the styles—Mae West and Gloria Swanson were avid collectors and wearers of jewelry.”The Gemological Institute of America was founded in 1931, four years before competing jewelry trade publications Jeweler’s Circular and The Keystone merged to become Jewelers Circular Keystone (now JCK). In 1933, mass jewelry manufacturers adopted the lost wax process, an ancient craft that formerly had been used only in dentistry in America.In 1932, Harry Winston made his indelible mark on the jewelry world with the debut of his first retail store in New York City. The firm would become known for its acquisitions of outsized gemstones, including the 45.52 ct. fancy blue Hope Diamond and the 601 ct. rough Lesotho Diamond, which was cleaved on live television in 1968.Brothers Oscar and Nathan Heyman circa 1905–06
The industry’s trajectory of innovation—fueled by new stones, metals, and jewelry-making techniques—hit a roadblock in the early 1940s, at the start of World War II. “Everyone was pulling in their shirt strings and there were very limited materials available,” says Jonas. Stones from Europe and Asia were barred from coming into the United States and gold was rationed.As a result, the popularity of stones native to South America, including aquamarines and tourmalines, soared. And the machinery of war began making its way into the jeweler’s workshop: “A lot of the ­jewelry of the 1940s has a machine-type feel to it,” says Jonas. “There are bracelets from that period that look like a row of tanks.”Because platinum was prohibited in jewelry by the U.S. government, which mandated that its use be relegated to war equipment, sterling silver was widely used during this era.
The 1950s ushered in a more upbeat national mood, and fashion designer Christian Dior’s ultrafeminine New Look inspired a more whimsical period in ­jewelry, marked by huge gemstones and diamonds that were, for the first time, being worn during the day. “It was a very prosperous time, and accordingly, the ­jewelry was gorgeous,” says Jonas, who considers the era the apex of American ­jewelry design. “Manufacturers were copying the jewelry from the maharajas, so women were wearing these huge, fancy necklaces with big rubies and emeralds and rubies. It was all very glamorous.”
McTeigue & McClelland’s Tsavorite Dandelion Bracelet with yellow diamonds, enamel, and 18k Bloomed Gold ($12,000)
Over the course of the decade, the introduction of various synthetic gems—including star sapphires, rubies, and the first successful production of synthetic diamonds at General Electric in 1954—contributed to the trend toward huge gemstone-laden looks.
The vogue for big rocks—along with whimsical interpretations of animals and other elements of nature—continued in the 1960s, fueled by Tiffany & Co.’s appointment of Jean Schlumberger, a French-born jewelry designer who had been working under his own shingle in New York since 1941. Beloved by royals and the fashion flock, Schlumberger’s pieces favored natural motifs, including sea critters, flowers, and birds. His Bird on a Rock brooch, which depicts a bejeweled bird perched atop the yellow Tiffany Diamond, exemplifies his playful style



Jewellery Rings For Women
Jewellery Rings For Women

Jewellery Rings For Women

Jewellery Rings For Women

Jewellery Rings For Women

Jewellery Rings For Women


Jewellery Rings For Women

Jewellery Rings For Women

Jewellery Rings For Women

Jewellery Rings For Women

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