Featured Vintage Jewelry Designer - JJ - Whimsicals, Figurals, Artifacts and More!

Collectors of figural jewelry, particular lovers of cat jewelry will be well aquainted with today's featured designer - JJ (Jonette Jewelry Company.)

The company was founded in 1935 in Providence, Rhode Island, under the name of Providence Jewelry Company. The owner was Abraham Lisker. Abraham was originally trained as a physician, but gave up this career to begin what would become his life's work. His brother Nathan joined the company in 1937 and the company became known as Lisker & Lisker.

Because of the popularity of some early mother of pearl figurals and ballerina pins, the company decided to focus on making figurals. Their designs are of above average quality and so whimsical and fun to wear.

The second world war interrupted the production of the company when Abraham closed the doors of the company and enlisted in the army for a two year tour of duty. He returned to Providence and renamed the company Jonette Jewelry Company - JJ for short - which was a combination of his father's name John and his mother's name Etta.

J.J. Designs are hallmarked simply with the letters JJ on a rectangular cartouche. I've also seen the letters placed directly into the metal itself as well. Most of the designs all had two things in common - great detail and whimsical designs. This is a photo of the hallmark:

The owner, Abraham, retired in 1972 and his son Gordon took over. In 1986 Lisker trademarked the name "Artifacts" which was an ethnic line with an antique finish, designed to look like historical artifacts. Another line at this time were those with a Southwestern motif such as coyotes, cacti, etc. The company closed in 2006.

Cats and dogs were popular subjects, but the company also did brooches and pins in a wide variety of other animal shapes. They also made a range of very interesting sports jewelry with bar pins and charm dangles featuring the sport.

JJ jewelry has always been widely collected by lovers of thematic motifs. Expect the pieces to raise in value with other collectors now that the company has ceased production.

Here are some photos of a few pieces to give you an idea of the whimsical quality of the JJ designs. All pieces are available in my online stores. Just click the photos for more details. Prices range from $9.99 to $14.99.

Just the Cat's Meow - Figural Cat Themed Jewelry

I used to be a cat enthusiast. When my husband and I lived in Australia years ago, we had cats as pets for years. My favorites were the Siamese - we had several of them over the 15 years we lived there. Since returning to the US, we seem to have acquired a fondness for German Shepherd dogs, but that's another story for a later date.

Since I began selling vintage jewelry online over a decade ago, I have come to discover that one of the most popular thematic jewelry line is that featuring cats. These items just seem to fly off the shelves, particularly if they are unusual designs. Sometimes, the designs are wild cats such as this cute Trifari leaping leopard pin featured here, and other times, they are various designs of house cats. All seem to be widely popular.

Most vintage jewelry designers had cat designs in their lines, but several vintage jewelry designers are particularly known for lovely feline figurals. Some that come to mind are JJ (Jonette Jewelry), AJC, AJMC, Danecraft, and others. Trifari, Art, Warner and Coro also had several designs of cats.

Have a look at these cute kittens to see if something makes you purr with delight.

Which one is the cat's meow for you? The cat jewelry is all available for sale from one of my online stores. Just click the pictures to go to the item. Prices are $9.99 to $29.99.

Figurals and Thematics on Sale in my store

I love figural and thematic vintage jewelry - pieces with a motifs such as dogs, cats, western themes, hearts, flowers, zodiac, fruit, etc. Jewelry like this is often whimsical and appeals to a wide variety of people, even those that don't normally wear costume jewelry.

My latest sale at my ebay store Carolina Collections Vintage Jewelry has a large range of figural and thematic jewelry marked down 25%.

Here are a few of the sale listings:

The sale includes both signed and unsigned jewelry pieces and there are all types of jewelry pieces - necklaces, earrings, brooches and pins. You can view these pieces and the other figural vintage jewelry on sale on this page my ebay store Carolina Collections Vintage Jewelry.

Prices start at less than $5, but hurry in for best selection. Sale ends on March 16.