The apparent lack of any brooches made by my anonymous 1930s jewelry maker has puzzled me for a long time, but I recently discovered that they did indeed produce at least two. Both are bow motifs which also appeared on some of their necklaces as well, and both were later reproduced by other manufacturers. This…
Santa’s elves are apparantly working overtime this year; they’ve magically uncovered these half-dozen new designs by my elusive Art Deco era Mystery Jewelry Maker! My first holiday surprise was the discovery of a third “finish” on their chains. The basic (naked) chains are brass, and the alternate finish was a silvertone. However, it turns out…
Never let it be said that my mysterious 1930s jewelry maker allows me to get bored! Here are four more of their patterned-mesh designs using the unique front clasp – including a newfound style. This is a black-on-silvertone colorway of what appears to be the same pattern as the multicolor-on-goldtone necklace shown as the…
In a turn of events that can only be described as serendipitous, I can now add a newfound ornate hidden-clasp bracelet to the list of 1930s Mystery Maker designs – and a new necklace as well. This is a newly discovered pattern from the Mystery Maker, in trim geometric lines of black over the…
A small sub-group of the Art Deco era enamel mesh necklaces seen in Part One all have a fascinating attribute in common: each has one of three unique front hidden clasps. They also provide new clues to the identity of my 1930s Mystery Jewelry Maker. Here are the three front closure designs discovered thus far,…
For some time now I’ve been wondering if a particular range of 1930s patterned mesh necklaces were made by my mysterious Art Deco designer. However, when trying to positively identify unsigned vintage costume jewelry, hunches aren’t enough; multiple pieces of evidence are required. One thing that jewelry researchers always look at is the clasp. Without…
This is a descriptive index of the various “Mystery Maker” jewelry designs shown on this site. I have grouped them according to their main design element – e.g., bow, chevron (half-bow), geometric shapes (circle, hexagon, etc.) Each item is a link to the post in which it appears. A gallery of their regularly-used chains appears…
During the several years of research into my mysterious 1930s jewelry maker’s wares, I’ve puzzled over the apparent lack of one popular Art Deco style: flat mesh chokers and bracelets decorated in a geometric pattern (typically of triangles, zigzags or diagonal lines.) In fact, I have a file containing numerous such images but thus far…
