Vintage Jewelry Designer of the Week - Who am I?

This is another in my ongoing guessing game series about popular vintage jewelry designers. I'll give you some clues and pictures and you see if you can guess which designer it is. Ready? Here are your clues:

• Dates of Operation - 1886 to the present day
• Design Techinques - no real specific techniques but made great use of floral designs
• Lots of use of marcasites for accents
• Owned Tiffany and Co in the early 1980s
• Many notable designers such as Kenneth Lane, Coreen Simpson and Louis Ferraud
• Changed the name of the company in 1939 to the name we know today
• Added jewelry to their product lines in 1971
• Believed in the door to door direct marketing approach for selling

Here are some pictures of some of my designs:

I am considered a lower end designer today. For more information and the answer to today's riddle, you can go to this designer page of the resource library on my website Vintage Jewelry Lane. (answer is also shown reading backwards at the bottom of this blog post.)

I'll be doing more of these riddles over the next weeks and months. Have fun with the series. Answer: (read it backwards) novA

Full set, part set - What is a parure?

Married set, semi parure, demi parure, full parure? How does one know which word to use when describing a vintage jewelry set? It can be confusing because they are often used interchangeably by various sellers.

To be absolutely accurate, when the word parure is used, the pieces must have originally been designed to be worn together. Many designers made sets of 2, 3, 4 or even more pieces of the exact same design. Sarah Coventry is a well know designer of parures. The sets would often contain a brooch, bracelet, pair of earrings, necklace, and ring. The terminology used to describe them would depend on how many pieces of the original are being offered.

Other designers made just two pieces to be worn together, such as a brooch and matching earrings. If this is the case, the set can be correctly called a parure.

If the original set contained well more than two pieces, the correct term for two pieces from the line is a semi parure. If all pieces are in the set, it is correctly called a full parure. Demi parure is used when only two pieces of the original set of three are shown. However, demi parure is commonly used for any set of two pieces, and full parure for three or more.

This stunning aurora borealis set by Sarah Coventry is called "Blue Lagoon." It was originally a hostess set of several pieces. The set featured is just the brooch and earrings. It is a correctly described as a semi, but is also often referred to as a demi parure. It is one of the most in demand sets from the Sarah Coventry line.

A married set is used when two similar pieces are offered. For instance, one might have a black glass beaded neckace which is teamed up with a pair of black earrings of a similar style. The pieces may be the same designer but not originally made together, or they may be from two different designers, but look well matched.

The following set is a good example of a married set from two different designers. It features a dogwood flower design. The brooch is marked Trifari and the earrings are marked Avon. They are not an exact match, but still look very nice together.

No matter the correct terminology, one thing is sure. Parures, or sets, are lovely and make more of an impression than single pieces. Be sure to check out the full range of parures from Vintage Jewelry Lane's collection. The two sets featured here are included, as well as many other design, and makers.

Welcome to the Collecting Vintage Jewelry Blog!

I am very excited to announce the opening of the Collecting Vintage Jewelry Blog.

Be sure to bookmark this page for a wide variety of topics under the broader heading of vintage costume jewelry. Some topics may include designer hallmarks, current fashion trends, design details, and some of our lastest finds.

My name is Carol and I am the owner of vintagejewelrylane.com an online source for vintage costume jewelry. My site has all types of vintage costume jewelry, but we specialize in Sarah Coventry jewelry, cameo jewelry, micro mosaic jewelry, butterfly jewelry, and damascene vintage jewelry.

I'll start off this blog with our vintage jewelry word of the month - Marcasites.

Marcasite is a type of stone, often used in sterling silver, and sometimes faceted - this mineral has the same composition as pyrite (fool's Gold) but has a different chemical structure. It is a gunmetal gray color with a shiny finish and is inserted in the same was as a rhinestone is.

Here is a picture of a lovely piece of marcasite jewelry from designer Kenneth Jay Lane for Avon:


The stone sometimes acquires a multi-colored tarnish that is the result of oxidation. The stone has a luster and is opaque. Occasionally, a sulfur smell is detectable. See more information and pictures here.