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AMETHYST -  This jewel or semi-precious gemstone is actually the purple variety of natural quartz crystal.  It generally has a naturally irregular colour.   A popular stone for hundreds of years, it features in early beads and over the centuries has been used in Ecclesiastical and Royal jewellery.  It was a particular favourite gemstone of England's Queen Alexandra who liked the pale coloured light mauve variety.  Amethysts feature in Suffragette Jewellery where the jewel was used to give a coded message within a piece of jewellery with the use of  Green, White and Violet (Amethyst) stones to spell out 'Give Woman Votes'.  The Amethyst was also used in Victorian rings where many stones spelled a discreet message.  An example would be 'Dearest' -diamond, emerald, amethyst, ruby, emerald, sapphire and topaz stones set in a line.  In costume jewellelry purple and mauve jewels are popular and it is usually a faux amethyst that is used.  This would be a glass or crystal jewel in an Amethyst colour.  It is not unusual to find real amethyst stones in silver jewellery and it is one of the gemstones often used in artizan early mexican silver jewellery.

ART DECO - this term comes from the French "Art Decoratifs".  A major international exhibition -L'Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes -was held in Paris in the year 1925 and it was a celebration of modernity.  Other terms often applied to Art Deco designs are the French 'La Mode 1925', 'Style 1925' 'Paris 25' 'The Jazz Style' 'Jazz Modern' and even 'Style Chanel' or 'Style Poiret' after the important fashion designers of that time, Coco Chanel and Paul Poiret.  The sleek modern lines and the bright cheerful colours used in Art Deco design were a breath of fresh air after the depressing economic times and the sadness and destruction of World War One.  Woman were becoming independent for the first time and were wearing make up and enjoying  jewelry of all kinds including costume jewellery.  There was an interest in African Tribal and Aztec motifs, there was the discovery of King Tutankhamun's tomb which sparked a renewed interest in Eygyptian art, style and architecture.  Also it was the age of the machine with sleek industrial modern styles becoming de riguer.  Cubism and modern art was emerging.   It was the age of speed, with the development of cruise ships, motor cars and aeroplanes.  Many cities were growing with amazing buildings - my favourites have to be the Chrysler Building in New York and the Hoover Building at Greenford in London.  Technology allowed diamonds to be brilliant cut and baguette cut  for the first time and  platinum found its place as the metal of choice in precious jewelry; naturally paste costume jewellery was made to copy this new twinkling brightness. All of these things have added to the rich and interesting designs and motifs which feature in Art Deco Costume Jewellery.  I could write a book here but it makes more sense to refer to some which I enjoy and which are a ready source of reference for me: Art Deco Jewelry by Sylvie Raulet ISBN 0-8478-0622-7,   Art Deco - a design handbook by Bevis Hillier ISBN 0-906969-53-0,  Art Deco 1910 - 1939 from the V & A   ISBN 1-85177-388-6,  Art Deco by Iain Zaczek ISBN 0-75254-721-6

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CORO AND COROCRAFT

The Coro company was originally founded in New York at the beginning of the 20th Century by Emanuel Cohn and Carl Rosenberger.  Coro Inc went on to become one of the largest costume jewellery makers in the USA.  They manufactured in Providence Rhode Island and the Company also had offices and factories in other areas - namely New York and Toronto, Canada, England and Mexico.  The Corocraft English jewellery was made here from the 1930s and there are records for designs from this maker patented in England in the 1960s.  The dates given for Cohn and Rosenberger's Coro Company are usually 1900 - 1979 when this famous costume jewelry company went bankrupt in the US but manufacturing continued in Canada until the 1990s.

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DRESS CLIPS - There are so many ways to enjoy your vintage dress clips. If you have a pair there are the obvious and traditional sites. Place  a dress clilp on the two corners of a square neckline  or either side of the ‘v’ or round neck on your frock or blouse; the indents on your coat lapel or jacket collar just like they did in the 1930’s and 1940’s. For a more modern approach, how about popping them onto soft ballet shoes and pumps or over the turn back cuffs on your sleeves; into the tiny top front pockets on your jeans or trousers or over your belt? Single vintage dress clips were a must in the Art Deco era placed on the ‘v’ neck or ‘v’ back of a garment or adorning a hat when positioned over a hat band.  They are super when used as hair slides just clip directly onto your hair barrette style. They work just as well on a hair band. For a pendant style necklace place your dress clip over a chain or bead necklace or onto a ribbon for an effective choker. As a scarf clip they are great and they become a brooch when pinned over a safety pin – just fasten the pin through the fabric of your garment from behind and secure your dress clip over the bar. As a vintage fashion accessory they are hard working and you will enjoy finding new ways to wear your dress clips. For a bride they could represent the ‘something old or something blue traditionally worn at a wedding or could even be used in the bride and bridesmaids’ bouquets. A competent florist will easily wire a dress clip into position.  Remember you can also use vintage dress clips in the home to decorate curtains and soft furnishings or napkins at the dinner table.  They would add a special extra little gift if fastened over a ribbon on your birthday and Xmas parcels. If you have a large collection of vintage dress clips you could even use them to create a sparkling and festive touch when clipped onto your Christmas tree!

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KEIM of London. A little bit of research has revealed that Keim of London were costume jewellery manufacturers in the 1940s.  I have found several pieces by them over the years mostly items with an art deco to 1950s style about them.  Keim had a factory in London W1 at Fitzroy Works, Fitzroy Square, 1 Conway Street. They exhibited at the 1947 British Industries Fair at Olympia where they were listed as Manufacturers of High Class Dress Accessories, Imitation Jewellery, Earclips, Buttons, Buckles and Clasps. Keim worked in Plastic, Base Metals and Silver and offered findings for jewellery too. They also made Leather Handbags and Ladies' Belts.

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Majorica pearls or Mallorca pearls is the name given to man-made pearls.  First made on the Spanish island of Majorca over a century ago they are credible copies of natural pearls.  Majorica pearls are not formed in molluscs but are man-made using solid glass balls which are coated with a special paste.  The dull glass balls have a specific weight similar to that of a natural pearl.  These nuclei are then dipped into a special adhesive paste ( the recipe is secret!).  the paste includes oil, ground up fish scales and mother of pearl which together create iridescence.  The coated beads are then dried before being polished by hand to remove imperfections such as bumps and blemishes.  The special coating process is repeated as much as 30 times until a multitude of fine layers is formed over the bead to build up the required density and colour.  To make sure that the beads will be durable the layers are subjected to a series of processess, including applications of gasses and solutions to make them resist discolouration, chipping and peeling.

Majorica pearls are different to pearls created natural by oysters and other molluscs and are also different to cultured pearls in the following respects:

 The most important fact is that Majorica pearls involve no cruelty to a living creature. The Majorica pearls are mad-made and have very strict controls in their manufacturing process.  They are made over a series of several weeks but a real pearl will take years to create. All Majorica pearls are perfectly matched and round in shape whereas natural and cultured pearls will never have two exactly the same because of the intervention of mother nature!

The Majorica pearl is a branded product of good quality.  Majorica pearls are created in Manacor.  The resulting pearl jewellery tries to mimick the most perfect natural pearl in colour and iridescence.  Thus a Majorica pearl is the most precious pearl in the world that has been created entirely by man.  Experts keep the exact processes and formulas used a trade secret.  The testing process for Majorica pearls includes test carried out in tropical sunshine and even Arctic temperatures to ensure that the resulting pearls are durable in all climates!  The Majorica pearl is thus resistant to humidity, heat, perfume, beauty creams and natural body secretions like perspiration.

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PENNINO - Pennino Jewelry. This is a the name found on some vintage costume jewellery from the USA.  Pennino Jewellery was the creation of three brothers of Italian descent, they were known as the "Three Neapolitan Princes." They moved from their native Italy to New York and founded Pennino Brothers in 1926. Their jewelry was of good quality and design and as such was sold through high end department stores and jewellery shops. Pennino jewelry was always crafted with high grade rhinestones. The company closed in 1966.

Name brooches were a great favourite with Victorian and Edwardian ladies.  It is reputed that these old brooches and pins started out as name badges for the staff in large country houses and became popular sweetheart brooches for the sentimental Victorians.   Many such brooches were made in Birmingham, England's jewellery quarter and they are becoming most fashionable again with the resurgence of lovely old names that were popular in the 19th and early 20th Century.  Many interesting name and related brooches were made through the Edwardian period into the 1920's and there was a revival of these items during World War 2 and in the 1950s also.   Materials used to make name brooches generally include Silver, Gold, base metals and rolled gold wires. The name brooches can be set with real gems stones, diamante, paste or marcasite.   The names themselves can be applied as cut out letters or are pierced out, engraved, carved, enamelled and sometimes painted on.   Natural materials like ivory, bone, wood or Whitby Jet were used and also early plastics like Bakelite, Celluloid, Casein and Lucite.  It was also popular to make brooches with the words 'Mother' or 'Baby' on them.  Brooches were manufactured with initials on or letters which make up a name in the form of a puzzle – a great novelty in their time.  Victorian and Edwardian brooches are found with place names upon them, even places that relate to battles, jubilees and other events.  Some pins simply convey sentiments like 'Best Wishes', ‘Good Luck’, ‘Greetings’, or just simply ‘Souvenir’.   Some earlier name brooches had a locket or glass back enabling them to be used to hold a lock of hair or small portrait.   A category of collectable antique brooches have the word 'Mizpah' (an old Hebrew prayer which translated means 'may the Lord watch over us whilst we are apart’). It is also possible to find the ‘Mizpah’ on the reverse of a piece of jewellery.  I have seen Celtic brooches and also necklace clasps bearing this word.