JOSEFF OF HOLLYWOOD Nouveau Demi w/ Chunky Coral Dangles

Jewelry : Collectible : Costume : Vintage : Joseff Of Hollywood

$1,195 USD
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Vintage Joseff of Hollywood, our chunky brooch and earrings set, with its huge coral dangles, is done in flowing Nouveau style, and exudes the majesty and grandeur of Hollywood's classic period films. Eugene Joseff, dubbed as the "Jeweler to the Stars", created jewelry for almost all those films, among them, "Ben Hur", Casablanca, "The Ten Commandments," Cleopatra" . . .

Our set dates to the "Golden Age", '30s-'40s. The coral dangles are actually a type of early plastic called tenite, which was used extensively before the war by jewelry makers to simulate real gemstones.

Tenite, developed by Eastman Tennessee Co. in the '30s, appeared in many Joseff pieces. A similar set to ours, dated 1930 and featuring turquoise tenite dangles, appears in the book, "Plastic Jewelry of the Twentieth Century" by Lillian Baker (value of the set, as of 2003 when the book was published, $1,000!).

Our brooch is a humongous 4 3/4" x 3" piece that looks like a canopy of foliage. Lush bunches of flowers and leaves flourish along its entire length.

Hanging from this canopy are three coral pear-shaped dangles, each within decorative French prong setting. The biggest one in the middle is 1 3/4" x 1 1/4", while the smaller ones on either side are 1" x 3/4".

Each earring features a floral button top and the same size smaller coral dangles as in the pin.

Both pieces showcase Russian gold-plating, which Joseff developed. The brooch has a long locking c-clasp and the earrings are clipbacks. The pin and one of the earrings are marked Joseff in script and within a circle.

Excellent condition, as if hardly used. Very minimal surface scuffs on the coral plastic, and the patina is rich and mellow — as it should be!

If you have a yen for Hollywood and all its stands for, here is the perfect set for you. Or, if you are a connoisseur of the best costume jewelry has to offer, this one would boost your collection!

Hard to find, and hard to replace, so it is not included in our ongoing sale (I will entertain serious offers though, including layaways). You could very well have a "custom" here, as rare as it is. Indeed, this is a real treasure!

Item ID: 0108-JOS4
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