The son of Russian immigrants, William Berns (1903-1962) grew up in a large family of six children—four daughters and two sons. William was unmarried and lived with his mother Milly at 19 East Eighty-eighth Street in Manhattan.

In the 1930s, William and his brother started their jewelry business Berns Brothers at 435 Madison Avenue, New York City. Before 1940, William Berns became the sole owner of the store and changed the firm’s name to Berns Jewelers.
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The history of Robert Fleischer Co., costume jewelry manufacturing firm, began in 1944 and lasted two decades. For twenty years Robert Fleischer Company headquartered at 366 Fifth Avenue, in the building also known as The New York Accessories Exchange.

The firm launched La Marquise jewelry line for brooches, earrings, pins, necklaces, bracelets and lockets made of precious and semi-precious metals in September 1945. The following year, they registered the brand La Marquise Pearls for costume jewelry made with artificial pearls. In April 1952 they also began making costume jewelry under “Vari-jewels” brand.
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The history of the Marjorie Raven costume jewelry brand lasted no more than 15 years. Marjorie Raven and Louis Raven, a New York couple, founded their jewelry manufacturing and sales business in 1945. Initially, it was a small workshop and storefront at 698 Madison Avenue, where Raven created designs and made her jewelry.

According to the 1953 business directory, Marjorie Raven was president, and Louis Raven was secretary and treasurer. The company employed eight people, including Marjorie, and where Louis Raven was the only man.
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Edwin Harold Tompkins (1898 – 1971) was born to Charles Henry Tompkins and Hester J. Cooper. He spent his childhood in Fishkill, Duchess, New York. His name was first mentioned in the Jewelers’ Circular in 1918 as a jewelry industry representative who purchased Liberty Loan Bonds for $100 as a show of patriotism.

Edwin Tompkins began working in the jewelry business quite early, and he also married early. He married for the first time in June 1917, at the age of 19. The wedding took place in New York City. Later, in 1926, his wife, Carmen Holmes Tompkins, obtained a divorce from him in Paris.

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Born in Manhattan, New York City, Franklin Edel Karples (1898–1977) was the only son of William Edel Karples and Margaret Amanda Edel. In the 1920s, he was a collector and connoisseur whose name was often mentioned at art and antique auctions.

He established Franklin E. Karples jewelry company under his own name, incorporating it in June 1926. Other incorporators were T. L. Harrison, W. F. McDermott and J. L. Farrell. Karples led Franklin E. Karples, Inc., located at 604 Fifth Ave., as president for four years.
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Unjustly forgotten today, Claudia Fishel was once a renowned retail jeweler, designer, and owner of two beautiful jewelry stores. Both of her boutiques, which she managed from 1941 until her death in 1956, operated under the brand “Claudia Fishel Jewelry of Distinction”. Her first store was located at 535 Madison Avenue in New York City, and the other at 918 Lincoln Road in Miami Beach, Florida.

Claudia Fishel created original jewelry designs using gold, platinum, diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds. She also loved to create jewelry by remodeling old jewelry pieces and combining them. Advertisements for jewelry under the Jewelry of Distinction brand appeared in popular magazines, including Vogue, The New Yorker, and Palm Beach Life.
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