A unique genre among vintage jewelry collectors is what’s known as the Takahashi bird items. I hesitate to classify these as ‘costume jewelry’ because they truly are an art form. The backstory of the Takahashi birds is just as fascinating as the brooches themselves. The following is a brief summary. Yoneguma and Kiyoka Takahashi were…
I was gobsmacked when I realized that it has been almost two years since I last accumulated enough ‘newfound’ Mystery Jewelry Maker examples to warrant an update post! That is, if one doesn’t count the March 2020 ‘Maybes and Wannabes’ overview. But there are now enough ‘new’ items (17) and one of them was rather…
The world of vintage costume jewelry often contains mysteries, as my own quest for the elusive 1930s Mystery Jewelry Maker’s identity can attest. One such mystery was recently shared with me by Colleen Newell, who is on a similar quest to uncover the story behind pieces marked ‘Joy.’ Both of us have been trying to…
In the course of my ongoing research into the Mystery Jewelry Maker, I sometimes come across items that fall into the category of “it could be, but I’m not sure.” Those photos and accompanying information get shunted into my ‘MJM maybe’ folder, there to await the possible later discovery of other examples that may either…
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…
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…
The animals, birds, and flowers aren’t the only ones finally emerging from winter hibernation: Why not a springtime update on new Mystery Jewelry Maker finds as well? The “least new” is probably this large bow paired with their brass watchband-style pointed-ends mesh chain, because its silvertone counterpart was catalogued waaaay back in post #2 of…
The Chatsworth Lady 