Miriam Haskell (1899–1981) was an iconic American jewelry stylist, interior decorator, and art collector. It is also a world-renowned brand of high-end costume jewelry. There’s probably not a single reference book on costume jewelry or encyclopedia of 20th-century fashion that doesn’t include information about Miriam Haskell.

For many years, she collaborated with jewelry designer Frank Hess (1889–1973). He created the Miriam Haskell brand’s signature style, in which each piece reflects the designer’s skill. Each piece is intricately composed, and every detail is meticulously crafted. Although Haskell jewelry’s history began in 1926, it achieved immense popularity in the 1940s, thanks to widespread advertising.
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The history of the Bal-Ron jewelry manufacturing company began in 1944 in Providence, Rhode Island. Its name consists of the first three letters of the last names of its two founders. They were Harry Ballon (1888 – 1968) and Frank C Ronci (1921 – 1981). While Frank Ronci was a budding jeweler, Harry Ballon had ran his own jewelry company, The Harry Ballon Co, for over 25 years.

Established by Harry Ballon before 1920, The Harry Ballon Co, were engravers firm located at 246 Eddy Street, Providence. In 1922, when Max Bolotin acquired an interest, the firm changed its name to Harry Ballon & Co, and moved to 26 Custom House Street.
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The Jewelry Circular first mentioned the name of Charles Rothman, a wholesale jeweler and a salesman of pearls, in 1916. Charles Rothman founded the firm under his own name in 1920. Located on 56 Washington Street, Providence, Charles Rothman Co., was a retail jewelry firm.

In July 1923, the Chas Rothman Mfg. Co. was incorporated with a capital stock of $40,000. The founders were Charles Rothman, his wife, Jessie K. Rothman, and Henry D. Bellin, all of Providence. In 1924 Charles Rothman Co., Inc., moved to 187 Westminster Street.
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In the middle of the last century the name of jewelry designer Lee H Pelzman (1919 – 1977) was well-known. He established his first jewelry firm Shelba Co., 220 Fifth Avenue, New York in 1944. Shelba handcrafted sterling silver jewelry and fittings for other jewelry companies for about 10 years.

In 1954, Pelzman founded the Lee Pelzman Co in New York City, and opened a subsidiary, Leru, in Providence, Rhode Island. Providence’s finest jewelers created costume jewelry under the Leru brand, which became the alternative name for Lee Pelzman Co..
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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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