Born in North Holland, Netherlands, to B F Van Rijn and Hermina Petersen, Johanna van Ryn (1915-1984) was a renowned New York designer in the mid-1940s. She worked for A. J. Van Dugteren & Sons Inc., New York, whose boutique had a full collection of jewelry bearing the Johanna van Ryn label. The firm registered the rights to the Johanna van Ryn brand in March 1945.

However, by 1946, her original modernist and avant-garde jewelry, primarily sets of necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, had appeared in other top New York boutiques. Among them was Wexford Antiques Gifts, 846 Lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y.

Advertising

Advertisements for Johanna Van Rijen’s jewelry appeared in Jewelers’ Circular and Vogue magazine in 1945 and 1946.
Her jewelry, handcrafted from sterling silver, sometimes with gold plating, amethyst, onyx, and other natural stones, was ahead of its time.

Unfortunately, Johanna Van Ryn’s career as a designer was very short, from approximately 1943 to 1946, after which she moved to Los Angeles. As a result, today these pieces of jewelry, marked “Johanna Van Ryn,” “Mexico,” “Sterling,” or “Silver,” are highly collectible and extremely rare.

Personal life

Johanna van Ryn, also known as Johanna Elisabeth “Kaasi” Van Rijn Slezak, married renowned actor Walter Slezak in 1943. The following year, their daughter Ingrid was born, in 1946, their daughter Erika, and in 1948, their son Leo. Their marriage lasted forty years, until the actor’s suicide in 1983. Johanna died the following year.

Jewelry and Ads

Tutu brings good fortune to the wearer. That is an ancient tradition. His mysterious smile does seem to have some magic charm. Tutu in a brooch, earrings, a bracelet was only one example of the silver jewelry designed by Johanna Van Ryn, and as beautiful in design as all her creations.