Although opal is often regarded as the ‘Queen of Gems’ there is also – as in any royal family – a recognized hierarchy among them. As examined in my Opals, Real and Faux post, the top honors for both rarity and beauty are accorded to the black opals, especially those found in the Lightning Ridge…
Not many ‘new’ Mystery Jewelry Maker examples have surfaced in recent months, but there have been a few; they include two newfound colorways of the dainty “lotus flower” necklace. Two shades of the MJM’s favorite blue, on silvertone. Length is 16.25” as are all of this necklace’s colorways. This russet red version is…
It’s been a while since my last MJM update, so this instalment contains two ‘new faces’ as well as newfound colorways of previously-discovered designs. Let’s check out the newcomers first. The circle-with-balls center station on this crossover design is new; I expect that it was probably produced in a silvertone finish as well. It’s 16”…
Occasionally during my research into the Mystery Jewelry Maker I’ve had to revise my original opinion of whether a certain piece or design was or wasn’t theirs. In most cases something unexpected turns up that displays evidence for or against. A recent email conversation with a blog reader provided exactly that resolution to an “MJM…
Several years ago when I first began idly poking around the internet to see if there might be another necklace by whoever had made my mom’s, it never occurred to me that I’d end up finding 200 different examples! (Or that I’d reach that point but still not know who the heck they were, lol)…
As promised, here’s a selection of newfound designs and colorways added to my 1930s MJM (mystery jewelry maker) database. I’ll start off with a new colorway of the dome-on-box-chain necklace previously seen in green/black (in Part Two) and in blue/black (in Midsummer 2015 Roundup). This version uses black only, making it a match for their…
Once in a great while I come across one of the Mystery Jewelry Maker’s findings that another manufacturer has either adapted or resurrected decades later. The best example is their large bow which was picked up by the Forstner Jewelry Company and made into a sterling silver brooch. Some alternate versions of the smaller MJM…
Although I’ve discovered only two brooch versions of my 1930s Mystery Jewelry Maker’s bows (the Large Bow and the Nouveau Small Bow), I did notice several other bow brooches with two alternate stampings from the same ‘blank.’ Many thanks to Lauren Campbell-Reichert of Lucy Isaacs Jewelry who tipped me off that the Guyot Brothers findings…
