Miriam Haskell

Miriam Haskell, Born July 1, 1899, was an American designer of costume jewelry. With creative partner Frank Hess, she designed affordable pieces from 1920 through the 1960s. She began designing and producing jewelry in 1924 and opened her first boutique, Le Bijou de l'Heure, in 1926 in the McAlpin Hotel, New York City.

Haskell created costume jewelry of understated beauty and meticulous detail. Every Venetian bead, Bohemian crystal and faux baroque pearl was hand-wired to intricate brass filigree and then backed to a second filigree to conceal any trace of its construction. Beads were then worked up into three dimensions to create textual layers, held together with soft honey-toned metal filigree wiring. As a result one piece may have taken as long as three days to create, a lifetime in the world of costume jewelry and reflected in the occasionally prohibitive cost of each piece.

In her early days, Miriam designed most of the jewelry herself but her real genius lay in judging fashion trends, interpreting them, and commissioning and guiding the very talented group of designers she surrounded herself with. These included Frank Hess, Robert Clarke, William de Lillo, Peter Raines, and Larry Vrba. Her creativity real shows during the 1940s when it is said her best work was created.

The restrictions of the World War 2 forced Haskell to use alternative materials including plastic beads, shell and crystals - all sourced a little closer to home. Later in the early 1950's, Haskell designs became increasingly elaborate and showy as women wanted a more obvious glamour in their lives after the deprivations of war. Trinkets from this period include a pair of flamboyant Gauguin-inspired hibiscus earrings in painted porcelain and gold, and flashing stickpins of a style that can only be described as Hollywood Baroque. Huge necklaces had strands of multiple crystal beads separated by Japanese pearls, coral or huge gold-tone leaves, and brooches were set with a multitude of stones, pearls and tiny glass seed-beads in shades of aqua, robin's egg blue and pastel pink.

Her vintage items are eagerly collected and her namesake company continues. Her vintage pieces can command high prices from collectors. However, her jewellery was seldom signed before 1950, it was her brother Joseph Haskell who introduced the first regularly signed Miriam Haskell jewellery. For a very short time during the 1940s, a shop in New England did request all pieces they received be signed by Miriam - this signature being a horseshoe-shaped plaque with Miriam Haskell embossed on it. Pieces with this signature are rare.

  • Because all pieces are handmade, they are quite fragile and difficult to restore.
  • Unmarked until 1947, work was stamped with her name on a horseshoe cartouche, an oval stamp, and on the hook or clasp.
  • A good way to identify an authentic Haskell is by vintage ads.
  • Nearly all have a pierced metal (pre-1943), plastic (during the war years) or filigree plate (Postwar) onto which the decorative details were attached. Mesh was never used.
  • No unsigned Haskell necklaces or bracelets with a fold-over clasp have been found.
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Photos Courtesy of DaffodilsVintage Etsy.com

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