Monet The Master Jewelers by Alice Vega

A new book is just out on Monet jewellery. Monet The Master Jewelers by Alice Vega was first published a couple of weeks ago and is not one to miss. A large and heavy book filled with the history of Monet or previously Monocraft jewellery. Adverts that date Monet jewellery and plenty of pieces arranged in decades until the eighties.

The company may have started in 1927 as an initials business, producing the monograms that were a popular trend of the 1920s & 1930s for initially cars. The Great Depression, saw them move to handbags as few could afford cars. Expanding their business into jewellery, the company went from Monocraft to Monet in 1937. They produced a YSL line in the 1980s and in the 1990s manufactured the Christian Lacroix line. In 1996 saving the company from bankruptcy, Liz Clairebourne company took over. Still having a name for quality and style Monet continues to expand  today
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Great book on jewellery, well written and researched and contains page after page of jewellery, definitely one to buy and keep in your reference library.

Here are just a few of the Monet jewellery pieces that are available on Jewels and Finery at the moment.
 

Monet jewellery set of a swirl brooch and matching earrings

We do have many other pieces in stock that we add every week onto the website.

Mirella Brooches

Good morning, I have wrote about jewellery signed Mirella before. W A P Watson the company who produced the Exquisite brand also produced Mirella. Named after an employee, the brand was for fancy goods and mirrors. However I discovered a short time ago that they also produced a few pieces of jewellery under that name - well two brooches it seems!

This was the purple vintage brooch that I brought a while back.

I have seen this brooch not only signed Mirella but also signed Exquisite.

This is the other brooch (below) that I have just brought signed Mirella. It is the only other one that I have seen under the Mirella brand. Both brooches are in my own collection but we source Exquisite and Mirella jewellery that will be added to the page on the above link regularly.

Both pretty floral designs and hand enameled with mock marcasite. Would say they date to the 1960s.
We have added more vintage brooches over the last few weeks in floral designs as well as with many other looks.

BJL Signature on enamel jewellery

BJL signed enamel jewellery was a mystery to many vintage costume jewellery collectors. But at long last the mystery has been solved. BJL stamp refers to The Bohemian Jewellery Ltd company. they produced a huge amount of enamel and marcasite jewellery. Some are stamped and many are not.  

To jog memories here are a few pieces to help things along.

 Signed lily flower brooch and matching clip earrings - also signed. My own collection

BJL made many pretty enamel and marcasite brooches and earrings. Looking at the style and findings of many of their pieces - they made jewellery from the 1920s up to the 1960s at least.  Not only the enamel ones but a range of vintage necklaces, brooches, earrings and bracelets.  Some of the jewellery was signed with block lettering BJL on a square plaque. But there are unsigned ones to look for.

This is an unsigned vintage brooch with a hummingbird. (own collection as wing damaged) A brooch in the same colouring was signed BJL found in America

This little enamelled robin brooch is by BJL but is unsigned.

Both of these brooches are from BJL as size, findings same and they appear to match in style.

Which leads me to the infamous vintage lily brooch in enamel and marcasite. Made in numerous colourways. Is this by BJL? The backs are very similar to the ones that are signed BJL. The lily brooches are in both pot metal with a C shaped fastening. Also they are available with rhodium plated backs and with a safety fastening. SO DO YOU HAVE this brooch with a signature? Please share any information.

 

Pot metal with C shaped fastening - my own collection.

Lily enamel and marcasite brooch - with a safety fastening.

Comments appreciated.