Do you collect vintage jewellery by style or designer?
Click on the images below to find your favourites in our shop
Art Deco jewellery dates from the 1920s and 30s and is much more varied than the archetypal zig zag patterns (although they do feature a lot). Iconic jewellery from that period include gorgeous long flapper necklaces and sautoirs, beautiful glass chokers and earrings and machine age designs featuring chrome and new plastics such as Galaith. At Kikulu we collect and specialise in this type of jewellery and have a lovely range for sale.
Jewellery from Czechoslovakia is known for both the fantastic glass work and also the ‘Gurtler’ metal work which often featured intricate filigree craftmanship. Here at Kikulu we have collected some gorgeous pieces that range from Victorian, Edwardian, the 1920s and 30s and also some lovely 50s and 60s pieces. Czech glass is a specialty of ours and we have an amazing range of glass necklaces, earrings and brooches – including satin glass, uranium and vaseline glass, foiled glass, and glass that was created to imitate gemstones such as amber, ruby, emerald and amethyst.
Coro is one of the most well known vintage costume jewellery names in the US – established in 1901 until 1979. Vendome was a subsidiary company. Here in the UK they used the name Jewelcraft. Not all their pieces are signed but they have trademark tags and design features that help with identification. They also used the name Corocraft in the UK, which were also often not signed.
Exquisite jewellery is a brand name of WAP Watson Company based in Solihull, UK between 1914 and the late 1970s. They are well known for some lovely flower and leaf jewellery as well as novelty jewellery. However they also produced some lovely classic jewellery styles and these are always popular in our shop.
Hollywood jewellery was made in Birmingham in the UK – not to be confused with Hollycraft in the US or Joseph of Hollywood designs. Hollywood mainly supplied Woolworths (known as Woolies) and was not of as high quality as some of the better known designers. However we think we should celebrate British vintage jewellery and quite like the items we have come across.
Miracle jewellery was originally based in Birmingham, UK with a focus on Celtic, Irish and Scottish style jewellery. The company relocated to Cornwall in 2013. They often use agate in their jewellery and their brooches are particularly recognisable and collectable.
Initially formed in 1927, the US company Monocraft Products Company produced monogram plaques for women’s handbags and purses. By 1929 they began producing jewellery. They have used various signatures on their jewellery over the years, but the Monet name began in 1937. The company produced affordable and fashionable jewellery – some of which has stood the test of time. Some Monet pieces are absolutely gorgeous in their simplicity and style like the earrings pictured here. The company was purchased in July 2000, by Liz Claiborne and relocated to Puerto Rico.
Napier was founded by E. A. Bliss and began making costume jewellery in the 1920s. The company is known for it’s quality designs and has been worn by many famous actresses in the 1930s. Napier jewelry span a wide array of styles, including pieces that feature faux pearls and beading, large gold- or silver-toned chains, colorful enamel pieces, and earrings, necklaces and bracelets that feature milk glass beads or art glass charms. They also produced chunkier styles but are known for producing sleek and classy jewellery.
Sarah Coventry jewellery was produced by a company established in the USA in 1949, and named after the founders’ grand daughter. The company originally used a model of selling the jewellery at home jewelry parties. This company used a variety of makers marks and Sarah Coventry jewellery is easy to identify. They also used interesting names for their sets which are well known such as the ‘vogue’ ring pictured here, the Peta Lure set or one of my favourites – the Shang Gri La set.
Although often used together the jewellery is rarely from both SELRO (which was a company started in the US in the 1940s by Paul Selenger) and SELINI which was another company run by Selenger. Selenger was responsible for the design of Selenger/Selini pieces. Famous for the ‘Many faces’ of Selro – the jewellery featured Asian faces and this is what the company is most famous for.
Much of Selro/Selini jewelry is unsigned and was originally hang-tagged. There are some clues, however, to identifying unmarked Selro/Selini jewelry. Much of what is sold as SELRO/SELINI is not actually produced by them. Signed pieces are very rare.
Sphinx jewellery was started in the late 1940′s by S Root in London and continued producing a wide range of jewellery until the 1990s. They are signed ‘SPHINX’ and often also have a product number. They produced quite a range. We like their modernist marcasite brooches like the one pictured here. They produce some nice collectable pieces.
Crown Trifari jewellery is known for its excellent quality and is highly collectable.
Gustavo Trifari was an Italian jewellery designer based in New York, USA who started the business in the early 1900s. Trifari partnered with Leo F. Krussman and later with Carl Fishel to form Trifari, Krussman and Fishel. The jewellery marketed by this company used the mark KTF in the 1920s. Alfred Phillipe was the most famous Trifari designer and he produced some gorgeous designs throughout the 1950s and 1960s. The company was later sold in the 1970s to Hallmark, and in the 1990s to Monet. Liz Claiborne now owns the company. The Trifari mark has changed throughout the years which helps to date it.