Non America in 1921, the limelight was shining jewels created with precious techniques… and decidedly less valuable materials. About it, that year Vogue took a clear position: «It should not be assumed that these artificial stones are tacky imitations of real jewels. They are true works of art, so intricate and delicate that only the skill of a true artist, of a man with an innate love for the light and color of jewels, will be able to bring them to success.”
Forbidden to call them bijoux: the costume jewelry was created to make costume jewelery the main accessory of the dress (The costume). For others, that name was born when the theatrical impresario Florenz Ziegfeld had fake jewels made for the costumes of his well-known shows Ziegfeld Follies. And the rest is history. Indeed, many stories, which still fascinate through small masterpieces and the lives of those who created them, thus allowing women to be able to offer themselves accessible jewels.
Collectible jewelry (and book).
«When in the 1980s my friend and collector Rosângela Cochrane pinned the first brooch on my jacket Trifaria world opened up before me that I began to study. Passionate about the creative reality of an America which, after the Great Depression of 1929, left room for imagination in jewellery. Their exquisite design, in contrast to the humble materials with which they were produced, offered every woman the possibility of a more democratic ornament” she says Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo.
Not only a famous art collector and founder of the Turin Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation, but also proud owner of a splendid collection which includes around a thousand special jewellery. The new one is dedicated to them Costume Jewellery (Taschen): 5 years were needed to make a book where, as well as hundreds of his vintage models, we discover the history of this trend and its famous creatives.
Brooches for soldiers at war
«Only 10 years later I started collecting art. If I visited the studios of artists, in front of the jewels I asked myself: why were they so important to be produced for a long time and in good quantities? I read many books and visited shops in America and international flea markets, to build a story within a story.” As the collector explains, this narrative is very American but also a little French (with the equivalent of fancy bijoux) has a sparkling aspect, tinged with melancholy.
Bijoux by Miriam Haskell and Vendôme in a 1965 shooting (Photo by Bert Stern/Conde Nast via Getty Images).
For example, he explains, Christmas tree pins were often sent by women to their husbands, in the dark years of the war in Korea, to comfort them with that family memory. Speaking of conflicts: the soft luminosity of lucite, a material used in brooches with opalescent animals, came from the reuse of some parts of war planes: «Used in the domes of planes for its resistance and transparency, it was then shaped into “Jelly Bellies” jewels, milky like moonstones».
Bijoux, a trend born out of necessity
Necessity also sharpened the ingenuity of stylists and jewelers: With limited fabric supplies, dresses were designed to remain elegant even through different seasons. How to update them? With jewels that became the true protagonists of every look: artistic creations soon also worn by upper-class ladies, combined with real jewels.
A model wearing a Trifari set in 1951 (Photo by Richard Rutledge/Conde Nast via Getty Images).
«I love art, but I have no artistic talents! The dress becomes a living material on which to express myself” continues Sandretto. “I have empathy for those women, I too use the dress as a canvas. By combining the right jewels I compose my picture: without it, I always feel like something is missing.” And so, often, once a particular jewel has been purchased, the collector creates a dress “for him” with his Turin tailor. Not only solid colors, but also large patterns. «We look for the shape and the fabric. Corals and turquoises in summer, dark stones in winter. In important events, when I choose them, I look at them every time and ask myself: who will have worn it before me? And on what occasion? The sentimental value becomes very high.”
The women of jewellery, from Coco Chanel to Elsa Schiaparelli
In Paris, Coco Chanel approved new materials with antique-inspired bijoux. Elsa Schiaparelli, her eternal rival, experimented with more original forms: France, always at the forefront, had recognized these jewels as part of high fashion in 1930, with an exhibition of the Chambre Syndicale des Fabricants de Bijoux Fantaisie. But during the war, artisans trained in Paris (even with jewelers from Place Vendôme) arrived in New York, bringing with them innovative skills.
In 1969, respecting the ancient style of the lively Sixties, Marisa Berenson wore an Indian lamé suit with Chanel sets (Photo by Gianni Penati/Condé Nast via Getty Images).
«They were extraordinary creations, created by highly skilled masters, with techniques as meticulous as those used for the most precious jewels» confirms Marie Laurence Tixier, jewelry expert and co-founder of the Parisian auction house Maurice Auction. «Unfortunately, the activity and savoir-faire of the greats parurier they dissolved over time. The auction remains an excellent way to purchase them, they are still in great demand: even by men looking for their right dandy brooch.”
Small architecture and glass pearls
The most coveted brands? Miriam Haskell, promoter of costume jewelery as an art form, with superb use of rhinestones, glass and baroque pearls. Or the Italian Trifari, which emigrated in 1910 and was worn by first lady Mamie Eisenhower in official ceremonies. Still famous, Kenneth Jay Lane he was perhaps the best-known American in promoting this style with sets loved by Jackie Kennedy and Marella Agnelli.
Necklace and earrings in fake moonstones by Miriam Haskell in “Vogue” in 1957 (Photo by Joseph Leombruno/Condé Nast via Getty Images).
Beloved by Patrizia Sandretto, the Belgian William de Lillo (to which the Metropolitan Museum in New York dedicated an exhibition) followed the fashions of the 60s with necklaces of colored pearls and sculptural brass. Iradj Moini, born in Tehran and settled in New York in 1979, also revolutionized this world with small architectures in crystals, stones and enamels.
A brand that still exists as much as the French Goossens and Gripoixwho, between the 1920s and 1950s, contributed to the design of Coco Chanel for whom wearing real gems demonstrating wealth was equivalent to wearing a check around your neck: «Jewels are not made to arouse envy or amazement. They should remain an ornament and an entertainment.”