The Queen's Christmas Brooch 2020 and Trifari Costume Copy

 Queen Elizabeth wore the Courtland Thomson Shell brooch for her Christmas broadcast for 2020. You can see that brooch in close up on The Court Jeweler Blog.  The beautiful shell brooch belonged to The Queen Mother.  

In the 1940s, there was tremendous admiration for the Royal Family as symbols of resistance to the Nazis.  In this spirit American jewelry companies made jewels inspired by those designs.  Trifari, which had a franchise to sell jewelry at the Norman Norrell Boutique in London made many pieces inspired by crown jewels.  One such fur clip is the Trifari shell brooch shown here. It is an Alfred Philippe design patent number 148,145, dated December 23, 1947.  In Trifari's design the shell was turned 180 degrees. and there are no dangling ribbons of stones as in the magnificent royal jewel. Still, there is a large faux pearl in the center and the style certainly harkens to the Courtland Thomson design.

The back of the stately clip is marked sterling, pat. pend. and Trifari on the clip mechanism.

A smaller version of the design was patented for the earrings, That was patent number 148,156, dated January 13th, 1948. The earrings are marked sterling on the back and Trifari on the clips.

What a  lovely set to wear for Christmas dinner or holiday zoom! Best to you for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Denver Museum's Dior Show

The Denver Art Museum has an exhibition of Christian Dior couture including costume jewelry. sounds like a so fun exhibit.  More information here.  The exhibit is called From Paris TO The World.
Time to dust off your Dior jewelry and wear it! If you go t the show tell how it was.

Have you Seen Darkest Hour?

Have you seen the new film Darkest Hour?  You might be interested in getting you circa 1940  jewelry out for the occasion.  There lots of great jewelry from the time period of course. But if you want to channel the support that Americans felt for the British standing alone in at that time you might look for a Bundles for Britain pin. Sold as a fundraiser these pins generated monies for the British War Relief Society and Bundles For Britian. The United States was neutral until it joined the war in 1941, but U.S. humanitarian efforts were ongoing then.  The pin shown here has the British motto on it Dieu et Mon Droit (God and My Right) and was made by Accessocraft.  Even Cartier produced a design benefiting the effort. You can find one of them here.

The Story of Trifari - a history of the Iconic Company now on Amazon

I recently published a history of Trifari on the Amazon Kindle. It's 247 pages.
"An illustrated history of the beloved jewelry company, Trifari. The book traces the beginning of the company and profiles the principals and their vision. Lavishly illustrated, the book includes patent references, fashion history and hallmarks to aid the collector."

 https://www.amazon.com/Story-Trifari-Maureen-Brodsky-ebook/dp/B01NBOM2XD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483311177&sr=8-1&keywords=the+story+of+Trifari

The Story of Trifari

Joan Rivers Jewelry auctioned

I missed this auction of Joan Rivers' jewelry. This was her collection of fine jewelry.  I sure it was spectacular.
Auction of Joan Rivers' Jewelry
Here is her orchid ( costume) brooch signed Joan rivers.  It has a poured glass look with pave rhinestones. 

New Chanel Jewelry

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal debuted Chanel's new wheat inspired jewelry. It's motif made me think of my previous post with the Alfred Spaney's wheat motif.  Chanel's bracelet is very evocative of this design.

Vintage Trifari Recycled the look of 19th Century

I recently bought this lovely Alfred Spaney for Trifari large rhinestone brooch.  It is 4 inches long and dates from the early 1940s.  It has the patent number 129320 on the back.  In looking through Claude Freganc's Jewelry From the Renaissance to Art Nouveau, I saw two images that caught my eye.  Of course, many know that the rhinestone look of the 1930s-early40s recycles the age of diamonds look of the early 19th century.  Often these designs are compact florals, open roses in a cascade. But on page 101 there is this striking tiara and aigrette, both by Duval for Empress Maria Feodorovna.   The lovely wheat sheaves and long grasses look is there. and Spaney beautifully translates it to a more modern open brooch.
The wheat sheave was popular with the ancient Egyptians and continued to be a symbol in Christian iconography.  A singe sheave of wheat represents harvest and fertility, which seems like a luxurious symbol for a lovely brooch.

Duval was a Swiss jeweler who settled in Saint Petersburg, according to Fregnac.