John Humphrey Noyes (1811 – 1886) founded the Oneida Community at Kenwood, New York, in 1848. Separated from the rest of humanity, the members of this contradictory utopian community supported themselves through various crafts. One of these crafts, silversmithing, later made Oneida a world-famous brand of silverware.

John Humphrey Noyes and his wife Harriet Worden Noyes had a son, Pierrepont Burt Noyes (1870 – 1959), who spent his entire childhood in the Oneida community. Pierrepont subsequently made a major contribution to the formation, development and success of the Oneida Silversmiths Company. He had been the driving force behind the company for 55 years.

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At the crest of the millinery era of the 1930-40s, French-born American designer Lilly Daché (1892 – 1989) made 20,000 hats a year. She sold them in 500 shops at $60 to $150. Gradually she added dresses, stockings, gloves, lingerie, a hair-care salon, and a cosmetics firm. According to the Official Gazette of the United Patent Office, Lilly Daché began creating costume jewelry in March 1923.

In November 1954, Daché was on the first Selections Committee for Diamonds U.S.A. Awards, alongside Richard Avedon, Walt Disney, Polaire Weissman and Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney. She expressed the need for trained artists in the field of jewelry design and urged that designers should study everything modern.

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Elegant, romantic, magnificent … these were the jewels of the Jewelmasters Inc., fabulous salon at 125 Worth Avenue, Palm Beach, Florida. There, more than 80 Jewelmasters’ model makers, diamond setters and old world artisans created jewelry masterpieces. It is noteworthy that most of the craftsmen were high-class European jewelers.

In fact, the history of the jewelry brand Jewelmasters began long before 1952, when it was established. The founder of the famous jewelry brand was Herman Henry Barr. Herman Barr was general manager of the Castleberg stores in Philadelphia and one in Norfolk, Virginia.
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The history of exquisite silver jewelry under the Jewelart brand began in 1946 and a little more than three decades. The founders of Jewelart Co were Armenian-Americans Varkis A. Markarian (1922–2004) and Albert D. Arabian. It’s worth noting that Armenian jewelry art, with a history spanning over a thousand years, is traditionally renowned for its silversmiths.

Initially, a small team of silversmiths created jewelry in a small workshop in the home of Varkis and his wife, Lillian, at 131 Suffolk St, Providence, RI. In 1948, the company moved to 12 Parsonage St in Downtown Providence. Jewelart’s last address was 336 Bullocks Point Ave, Riverside, RI.
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The most famous American designer of the 1930-50s, Nettie Rosenstein (née Rosenscrans) was the first to receive the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award in 1938. In 1940, her clothes were sold in 92 stores across America, with prices ranging from $98 to $500. Her designs were more expensive than those of any other American designer.

In 1942, Nattie Rosenstein (1890 – 1980) began creating limited edition jewelry from sterling silver and vermeil, popular in the 1940s. She also used rhinestones, plastic (imitating coral, bone, and turquoise), ebony, imitation pearls, and enamel. The designs were quite varied, featuring flowers, insects, leaves, animals, Asian and African motifs, and heraldry.
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Born in the village of Martonyi, northeastern Hungary, Sandor Goldberger (1893 – 1988) was the youngest of five children. In search of a better life his family moved to New York City in the 1910s. As a teenager, Sandor began working in jewelry workshops and stores in New York City.

A naturally talented young man was gaining invaluable experience and knowledge, from jewelry creation and sales to business management. In 1920, Sandor married Jane Solomon (1895 – 1979), a native New Yorker, also born into the family of Hungarian immigrants. They had a daughter, Janet Goldberger (1923 – 2014).
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