Raffine Creations Vintage Costume Jewelry

Raffine Creations Vintage Costume Jewelry (1969-2002)
Antiques shop’s window Christmas shoppers gold tone brooch pin. Raffine Creations Vintage Costume Jewelry (1969-1992)

The history of the Raffine costume jewelry trademark lasted just over two decades. Registered in April 1969 at the address 401 East 163rd Street Bronx, New York, Raffine’ Creations Inc ceased to exist in 1992. The Raffiné trademark (raffiné refined) was registered in 1970. Noteworthy, the word “Raffiné” translated from French means “refined”.

The style of jewelry marked Raffine is diverse – from Art Deco and Victorian to fashionable podium and figurative animalistic jewelry. That is, there is no single style of the Raffine jewelry. In accordance with the style, design and materials, it can be assumed that several designers worked in the corporation, each of whom created jewelry in their own unique style.
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Kalo Shop Handwrought Silver Jewelry

Kalo Shop Handwrought Silver Jewelry
Bird of paradise Arts & Crafts cutout sterling silver brooch pin. Kalo Shop Handwrought Silver Jewelry

Clara Bark Welles (1868–1965) was one of the most influential female silversmiths not only in Chicago, Illinois, but in the United States. Thirty-two-year-old Welles founded her shop after graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in September 1900. Within five years, her Kalo studio included more than twenty artisans, most of whom were of Scandinavian descent.

According to Kalo trademark registration document, her workshop produced a wide range of goods using silver. In particular, tableware and cutlery, toiletries and smoking accessories, picture frames, hair ornaments, dog collars, and more. Jewelry included bracelets, brooches, pins, buttons, chains, crosses, medallions, necklaces, rings, and clasps.
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Stavre Gregor Panis Sterling Silver Jewelry

Stavre Gregor Panis Sterling Silver Jewelry
Oak leaves acorn cutout and hand-hammered sterling silver brooch. Stavre Gregor Panis Sterling Silver Jewelry

Albanian-born Stavre Gregor Panis (1889-1974) was a hereditary silversmith who came to the United States in 1905. He settled in Arlington, Massachusetts, and worked for local silversmiths. During World War I he served in the Army, but in 1915 he returned to Massachusetts, according to the Colleges and universities U.S. list of students.

Stavre Gregor Panis was among the students registered by the American International College in 1915-1916. Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the college accepted students from all over the world. While still a student, Stavre met a young American woman, Gladys Hamilton (1900-2001), a native of Maine.
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Phyllis Woods Modernist Ethnic Jewelry

Phyllis Woods Modernist Ethnic Jewelry
Mask tribal sterling silver brooch pin. Phyllis Woods Modernist Ethnic Jewelry

A biologist by training, Phyllis Aldridge Woods (b. 1940) studied physiology and anatomy at Indiana University, and even wrote scientific articles in the early 1960s. However, her love of art, design, and jewelry influenced her subsequent career, to which she devoted her life.

Phyllis Woods and her husband, artist and poet George Welch (b. 1943), opened their studio in Tuscon, Arizona in the early 1970s. In addition to working in the studio, the artists traveled widely, becoming inspired by the ethnic art of West Africa and Morocco. Self-taught jeweler Phyllis Woods translated her impressions into jewelry, which today has become highly collectible.
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Anthony Scitarelli Phyllis Costume Jewelry

Anthony Scitarelli Phyllis Costume Jewelry
Bouquet of flowers blue rhinestone gold filled brooch pin. Anthony Scitarelli Phyllis Costume Jewelry

Established in 1946 in Providence, Rhode Island, M. & S. Jewelry Mfg Co manufactured sterling and gold filled costume jewelry for a decade. The founder and president of the company was Anthony F. Scitarelli, while William A. Mancini was its head designer. The company’s jewelry has been popular since the beginning, thanks to the quality of the materials, exquisite design and even packaging.

Since 1946, M&S gold jewellery came in a paper box, which, as it soon became clear, left much to be desired in terms of appearance. It took several months to design new packaging, which Scitarelli introduced in 1947. At the same time, the M&S launched the Phyllis jewellery line.
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Signed H. Adams Pewter Jewelry Art

Signed H. Adams Pewter Jewelry Art
Hot coffee openwork pewter lapel pin. Signed H. Adams Pewter Jewelry Art

Vintage pewter jewelry hand engraved by American artist H. Adams attracts with its unique artistic design. The design, in particular, is mainly based on children’s drawings, and specifically drawings of a girl – a schoolgirl, a girl doctor, a girl playing and predicting the weather, etc.

Most likely, this girl is the daughter of the artist jeweler, who inspired her father to create these designs with her creativity. Some pins are marked @ H. Adams / Sue J, which may mean the name of the co-author Susan J. Adams, the artist’s daughter. The author’s design of jewelry also includes funny animals, birds and plants.
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L.S.Peterson Jewelry Company History

L.S.Peterson Jewelry Company History
Amber sterling silver 12 K gold filled brooch. L.S.Peterson Jewelry Company History

Before starting his own company in 1938 in North Attleboro, Lester S. Peterson had a wealth of experience in the jewelry business, as evidenced by the frequent mentions of his name in periodicals of the time. For example, the Jewelers Circular of March 17, 1926, mentions Lester S. Peterson, a member of The New England Manufacturing Jewelers’ and Silversmiths’ Association.

In the 1920s Lester worked as a sales representative for the G. C. Hudson Co, North Attleboro, in the 1920s. His brother, Henry A. Peterson, also worked for George Cheever Hudson’s manufacturing jewelry firm. According to the Jeweler’s Circular Keystone, Henry A. Peterson joined L. S. Peterson, 60 Elm St., North Attleboro MA, in 1939.
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