Posts Tagged ‘coro’
Corocraft Jewelry
Corocraft jewelry was mostly made in the late 1930s through early 1950s, and it was considered and upscale version of the Coro jewelry line. While Vendome eventually became the upscale line, Corocraft vintage jewelry is very collectible.
As mentioned above, Corocraft was a division of Coro. While there are certainly "average" pieces, most of the Corocraft (sometimes spelled Coro Craft) vintage jewelry is well-made with above-average construction and materials.
What kind of vintage jewelry can you find with the Corocraft or Coro Craft marks? They did make just about everything -- earrings, bracelets, pins and necklaces (although I seem to rarely come across the bracelets). The styles range from plain (meaning without rhinestones or enamels) to glitzy. Enamels are also a popular feature. Oh, and you'll sometimes also come across Duettes!
So here are a few Corocraft vintage jewelry pieces for you to peruse. As always, click the links for larger photos and more information. Enjoy!
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 VINTAGE COROCRAFT PAT PEND CLEAR RHINESTONE NECKLACE  US $19.99
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 ENAMEL PENDANT REPRO OF 1623 EARLS SEAL COROCRAFT US $3.95
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 6 Vintage Brooches Coro Corocraft Trifari BSK Austria US $29.00
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 SPECTACULAR COROCRAFT STERLING ENAMEL 1942 CRANE BROOCH US $202.49
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 High End RHINESTONE vintage lot Hobe Sterling Corocraft US $799.00
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 VTG COROCRAFT HORSE HEAD DUETTE CLIPS EARRINGS US $399.99
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 Corocraft Brooch Pendant Pin Fluer de Lis MALTESE CROSS US $47.00
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 Vintage Corocraft Stacked Watermelon RS Brooch US $39.50
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 1950s COROCRAFT REGENCY RHINESTONE NECKLACE US $69.99
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“Jelly Belly” Costume Jewelry
Jelly belly costume jewelry is a term I see quite often in auctions. But are the costume jewelry really the highly collectible "jelly belly" or are they mis-named? Let's talk about what's real and what's not.
What is Jelly Belly Costume Jewelry?
Jelly belly is a term that really means Trifari jewelry in the 1940s time frame. What with the war, rhinestones were getting hard to come by and Trifari was experimenting with lucite as part of their jewelry designs. The lucite was clear to very slighly translucent, and used for the body/belly of the figural pin. I've only seen clear -- no colored lucite (as yet, anyway). Also, I have only seen these as figural pins.
A short while after, Coro (among others) came out with their own version of figural lucite jewelry pins. Coro's are the most sought after (after Trifari). Technically, only Trifari is the true jelly belly, but most collectors will extend the term to Coro's versions as well.
What Isn't Jelly Belly
I see many auctions calling the jewelry "jelly belly" when it merely has a plastic or glass cabachon. Sometimes the cabachon stone is transluscent, sometimes it's totally opaque. Sometimes even jewelry with pearls or rhinestones are tagged as being jelly belly.
I've also seen bracelets, necklaces, earrings and even rings referred to as jelly belly. Not!
(I think in most cases it's a situation where the person running the auction just isn't familiar with the real thing. They see the term used for other cabachon jewelry and figure theirs should be called that as well.)
While these pieces might be lovely and collectible in their own right, they are not jelly belly. Don't pay a high price thinking they are!
A Note on Jelly Belly
The very collectible jelly belly is from the 1940s timeframe. However, Trifari and Coro did make more of it along the way -- I've seen vintage ads from the 1960s for jelly belly pins. These newer version are also quite collectible, but won't bring as high a price as the older versions.
Somethiong you need to know -- Trifari also has done some re-releases of their older pin designs; fortunately, they have marked the re-releases with the year. (Remember, Trifari is still in business and manufacturing jewelry.)
One Final Thought
As with any highly collectible and high-priced piece of costume jewelry, there are fakes out there. Sometimes the not-really-real jewelry is listed as a "reproduction", which is absolutely fine. Just know it's a reproduction and not the real thing -- and don't pay a high price.
Sometimes, well, a fake is passed off as the genuine article. It could be an honest mistake -- the person thought it was real when they bought it, not realizing it wasn't. Then again, it could be someone looking to make big bucks.
So the moral of the story is this: if you love the look of the authentic jelly belly jewelry and want to add some to your collection, do your homework first. If you are uncertain, ask a more knowledgable person to help you out. Don't pay a high price for jelly belly costume jewelry without knowing for sure that it's real.
All that being said, here are some auctions listed as being "jelly belly". Take a look, you should now be able to tell the ones that definitely aren't!
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 Vintage Sarah Coventry Fruit Jelly Belly Pin Brooch US $7.00
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 JJ ARTIFACTS JELLYBELLY PIRANAH FISH BROOCH PIN New US $17.50
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 CASTLECLIFF JELLY BELLY MOUSE PIN REALLY CUTE US $19.95
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 Vintage MONET Ornate Humming Bird Jelly Belly Brooch US $8.88
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 LARGE 1950s JEWELED JELLY BELLY BUG PIN ROBERT MANDLE US $18.00
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 TRIFARI JELLY BELLY RHINESTONE FIGURAL EAGLE BROOCH US $15.50
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 VINTAGE SILVER BUNNY RABBIT BLUE JELLY BELLY TINY MINI US $3.99
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 JJ ARTIFACTS JELLY BELLY SUN CONFETTI LUCITE BROOCH New US $16.19
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 STERLING NORMA JELLY BELLY DUCK PIN DESIGNER SIGNED US $245.00
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Costume Jewelry Books and “Book Value”
If you've purchased any costume jewelry books, you'll notice that they have something called a book value. That is, the piece is labeled with the price the item should go for in a retail market.
Rhinestone Costume Jewelry Brooch, Unsigned (Click to Enlarge)
How accurate is the book value, though? Can you really use it to determine how much to pay for a particular piece shown in a book? Yes and no...and probably more often, "no". Let's see why.
How Old is the Book?
Check the publication date of the costume jewelry book. If it's more than a year old, the values are out of date. Costume jewelry prices were higher in the days before costume jewelry on ebay really took off. In general, the prices shown in the books represent how much it would cost to purchase the piece in an antiques store.
Trends Change
Like all fashions, costume jewelry also goes through trends. Today a particular designer is "hot", then tomorrow falls out of favor and another takes their place. But while a designer is hot, prices rise as people are scrambling to add the designer pieces to their own collection.
Sometimes a particular look gets hot; for example when beads came back in style a few years ago, beaded jewelry in general rose in price.
Then again, there are some books where the author seemed arbitrary on prices; setting higher values on pieces they liked, rather than the market value. Especially on unsigned pieces.
So What Good Are Costume Jewelry Books?
Well, aside from price, the books are invaluable for helping you to recognize the characteristics and style of differend designers. Although the values themselves might not mean much, the relative values give you a good idea of the market. For example in general, Eisenberg pieces cost more than Coro pieces.
So, definitely get costume jewelry books -- as many as your budget allows. The values might not be very accurate, but the rest of the information is priceless.
I'll leave you for today with some yummy eye candy from Eisenberg. You can find the and a tantalizing few below. Have fun!
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 Estate Piece Silver Rhinestone Necklace Eisenberg Ice US $21.15
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 Estate Lot NO RESERVE Eisenberg More US $9.99
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 VINTAGE LOT 20 EISENBERG MONET STERLING STONE JEWELRY US $37.05
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 VINTAGE EISENBERG RHODIUM PLATE RHINESTONE BIB NECKLACE US $147.49
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 STUNNING Vintage Layered Rhinestone BROOCH by Eisenberg US $24.43
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 ICY DIAMOND BROOCH UNSIGNED EISENBERG WEISS QUALITY US $29.99
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 Vintage star RHINESTONE Pin Unsigned EISENBERG US $5.50
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 Vtg Eisenberg Necklace SS Bracelet Juliana Brooch 5in E US $56.99
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 EISENBERG ICE EAGLE BROOCH RED WHITE BLUE CRYSTALS US $9.99
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Florenza Vintage Costume Jewelry
Florenza vintage costume jewelry is a little under-appreciated (in my humble opinion). Of course, not everyone likes likes the Florenza antique look. Instead of lots of flashy rhinestones, it's a more subdued kinds of jewelry. Don't get me wrong though; there are plenty of pieces with rhinestones!
Anyway, here's a little on the history of Florenza and their costume jewelry. Florenza Rhinestone Earrings (Click to Enlarge)
Florenza Background
Florenza was created by the Dan Kasoff Company in the 1930's. Beginning in 1948, the name Florenza was first used, named after Dan's wife, Florence. Sadly, Florenza last made its lovely jewelry in 1981.
Dan Kasoff, along with his son Larry, manufactured jewelry for other famous costume jewelry giants, like Coro, Kramer and Weiss. And they didn't stop there! They also made accessory items for Estee Lauder.
Florenza is famous not only for their jewelry, but also for their own accessories, such as lipstick holders, pin cushions and the like.
The Florenza signature look is, as I mentioned, a more antique or victorian feel, especially the metalwork. But not all their pieces fit into that category. I fell in love with the earrings on this page and had to have them. Unfortunately, I can't take a great photo of them! They are much, much more beautiful in person.
Florenza Marks
Florenza only used two marks for their jewelry; they apparently did not sign some of their early works, as the only two have the copyright symbol.
- "Florenza" in script with the copyright symbol.
- "Florenza" in print with the copyright symbol.
Since the copyright symbol more or less came into general use in the mid 1950's, it appears that most jewelry dates between the mid-50's through 1981.
But please also note: the copyright law was first established in 1947, but very few manufacurers used it until the 1950's.
Beautiful Vintage Jewelry
You can tell that I like Florenza, and I am always on a hunt for it. I saw a book piece on ebay this morning that I was ready to snap up, until I saw it was missing a rhinestone. Since I'm not confident that I could find a match for that missing stone, I sadly passed it up. Remember, always read the auction details, and don't just look at the photos! Still, the price is low enough at the moment that I could send it for a rhinestone match. Hmmmm....I may still bid anyway!
Meanwhile, I'll leave you with a as well as some Florenza auction photos. Have fun!
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 WOW Signed FLORENZA Multi RHINESTONE Flower EARRINGS US $9.99
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 VINTAGE FLORENZA HUGE LION PIN GLASS EYES STORE STOCK US $19.99
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 5 PCS FLORENZA NECKLACES BUDDAH OWL MOOD BELLY US $19.99
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 Gorgeous FLORENZA Vintage PURPLE Rhinestone BIRD Brooch US $26.00
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 Lovely Vintage FLORENZA Bead RS Necklace ER US $17.49
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 Designer Signed FLORENZA Gorgeous BRACELET FAUX PEARLS US $9.95
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 VINTAGE FLORENZA CAMEO BROOCH PENDENT SIGNED US $9.99
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 Genuine Florenza Shell Cameo Pin Pendant w Pearls US $12.99
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 Vintage Florenza Red Molded Glass Cabochons Brooch US $11.83
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