For six hundred years, members of the Pennino family had been jewelers in Italy before three brothers arrived in America in 1904. These brothers were Oreste Pennino (1888 – 1967), Francis Anselmo (1897 – 1972) and Gennaro (1900 – 1963).

Established in 1926, Pennino Brothers company had office at 38 West 48th Street, New York City. Pouring tradition and artistry into jewelry they created exquisite necklaces, earrings, and pins of rare and unusual beauty. Oreste was the designer, Francis was the master craftsman, and Gennaro (Jack) was the salesman.

Jack Pennino made many-week trips to France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Germany where he studied new fashion trends in costume jewelry. While he was abroad, Pennino reported to his home office some European style innovations that he planned to introduce in his new line.

According to Oreste Pennino, “Each person owes the world a gift of beauty, there is so much of beauty to be created, more than we have ever dreamed”. Each and every piece of Pennino jewelry is certainly irresistibly beautiful. (Jeweler’s Circular Keystone, October, 1950). Oreste Pennino has patented dozens of his unique designs since 1928.

Pennino Designs

Typical motifs included flowers, trees, and figural characters. One of the most interesting designs was Pinocchio, a character from an Italian fairy tale, whose name was consonant with the designer’s name. In addition to high-quality crystals and rhinestones, Pennino craftsmen used gold, sterling silver, or vermeil sterling.

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