Vintage Costume Jewelry Marks: A Guide to Designer Signatures

A name on the back of a brooch tells you who made it. How the name is written, and what’s stamped beside it, often tells you when. Below are the signatures of the American costume jewelry makers you’re most likely to find in a jewelry box or at an estate sale, with the dating clues collectors use.

This guide is about maker’s signatures on costume jewelry. For metal stamps like 14K, 925, GF, and British hallmarks, see our guide to jewelry hallmarks.

How to read a mark

1. Find it. Brooches: the back, often on a raised plaque. Earrings: the clip, screw, or post. Necklaces and bracelets: the clasp or a small tag beside it. In sets, sometimes only one piece is signed.
2. Copy it exactly. Block capitals or script? Initials or the full name? Any symbol? Write it down the way it appears, including dots and spacing (K.J.L. and KJL are different marks).
3. Read what’s next to it. ©, Sterling, Pat. Pend., Des. Pat., a patent number, or a country name each narrow the date.
4. Check it against the style. A mark sets a range. The design, the materials, and how the piece is put together should agree with it.

Rules of thumb for dating any mark

The major makers and their marks

Dates are approximate. Collector references agree on most of them, but marks overlapped, molds were reused, and some designs were reissued later with old-style marks. Where sources genuinely disagree, we say so.

Trifari

Marks: TKF/KTF (1920s to early 1930s); block TRIFARI (1930s); a small crown above the T (trademark first use December 1937, into the 1970s); crown plus © from about 1955; no crown in the 1970s; Trifari™ from the 1980s. “Sterling” next to the crown mark points to the 1940s. Full detail in our Trifari identification guide. Browse Trifari.

Coro, Corocraft, and Vendome

Cohn & Rosenberger, founded in New York in the early 1900s, became one of the largest American costume jewelry makers. Marks: “Coro” was the everyday line; “Corocraft,” often with a small winged horse (Pegasus), was a better line from about the mid-1930s; “Vendome” was the top line from 1944. “Coro Duette” marks a brooch that separates into two dress clips. US production ended around 1979. More on Coro and the Duette, or browse Coro.

Monet

Started as Monocraft (late 1920s), making monograms for handbags, and became Monet in the late 1930s. Marks: “Monocraft” on early pieces, then “MONET,” with © added later. Monet made a lot of gold-tone jewelry for a long time, so most pieces are common; the early ones are scarcer. Browse Monet.

Napier

One of the oldest American jewelry firms, based in Meriden, Connecticut. The founding date is disputed (1875 and 1878 are both argued), and the Napier name came in the early 1920s. Mark: “Napier,” in a cartouche on some early pieces and plain block letters later. The Meriden plant closed in 1999, so Napier spans most of the century; style matters more than the mark for dating. More on Napier marks, or browse Napier.

Sarah Coventry

Sold only at home “fashion show” parties from 1949 until the company ended around 1984. Sarah Coventry didn’t make its own jewelry; it was produced by contract manufacturers. Marks: commonly “SARAH COV.” or “©SARAH COV.” Huge quantities were sold, which keeps most prices modest. More on Sarah Coventry, or browse Sarah Coventry.

Weiss

Albert Weiss & Co., New York, 1942 to 1971, known for rhinestones and black japanned (blackened) metal, which is a deliberate finish, not damage. Marks: “WEISS” in block letters, script “Weiss,” “Albert Weiss,” and “AW Co.” (from about 1951). Browse Weiss.

Lisner

D. Lisner & Co., New York, from the early 1900s until about 1985. Marks: block LISNER (from about 1935), script Lisner (from about 1938), and a script mark with a long L (from about 1959). These dates come from collector references, so treat them as approximate. More on Lisner, or browse Lisner.

Miriam Haskell

Haskell pieces were rarely signed before about 1950; many relied on paper tags. A horseshoe-shaped mark appeared briefly in the late 1940s, and an oval “Miriam Haskell” stamp became standard around 1950. Because so much early Haskell is unsigned, it’s also widely misattributed. An unsigned “Haskell style” piece is an opinion until an expert compares it.

Eisenberg

A Chicago clothing company whose rhinestone ornaments became a jewelry line in the 1930s. The marks change more than most, which makes them good for dating (overlaps were common):

• “Eisenberg Original”: late 1930s to about 1945.
• A block “E”: about 1942 to 1945.
• A script “E” on sterling: about 1943 to 1948.
• Block “EISENBERG” without ©: about 1948 to 1958.
• “Eisenberg Ice” stamped on pieces: from about 1970 (the name appeared in ads earlier).

Marcel Boucher

A former Cartier worker who opened his own firm in 1937. Marks: “MB” beneath a Phrygian cap (the soft pointed cap of the French Revolution), mostly 1940s, then “Boucher.” Many Boucher pieces also carry an inventory number, which collectors’ references use to date them more precisely.

Kenneth Jay Lane

Started in the early 1960s. Marks: “K.J.L.” with dots and “KENNETH LANE” (sometimes with ©) on earlier pieces, “KJL” without dots on later ones, including lines sold through Avon and on TV. Lane reissued many designs, so the mark is a weaker date clue than usual. Browse Kenneth Jay Lane.

Kramer

Louis Kramer, New York, from 1943 until about 1980, and maker of Christian Dior’s US costume line from the early 1950s. Marks: “Kramer,” “Kramer N.Y.,” “Kramer of New York.” Browse Kramer.

Hobé

The American branch of a French family firm, established in the 1920s. Mark: “Hobé.” We haven’t found a reliable chart for dating its mark variants, so date Hobé by style. Browse Hobé.

Florenza

Dan Kasoff, Inc., New York, named for his wife Florence; closed in 1981. Known for ornate, Victorian-revival pieces. Mark: “Florenza,” which appears from about 1950. Browse Florenza.

Renoir and Matisse

Jerry Fels’s Hollywood company, 1946 to 1964. Renoir pieces are solid copper with a modernist look; the Matisse line added enamel over copper from 1952. Marks: “Renoir” or “Matisse,” with © on later pieces. Browse Renoir.

Schiaparelli, Hattie Carnegie, Joseff

• Schiaparelli (US-licensed pieces): lowercase block letters at first, then the familiar script signature from 1949.
• Hattie Carnegie: “HC” from the late 1930s, plus “Hattie Carnegie” and “Carnegie.” Jewelry continued after her death in 1956.
• Joseff of Hollywood: made jewelry for film studios from 1928. Block “JOSEFF HOLLYWOOD” before about 1950, script “Joseff” after; often a matte, antique-gold finish.

Sterling makers: Danecraft and Beau

• Danecraft (Providence): founded 1934 as Felch & Co. Pieces marked with a C over an F predate 1945, when the company became Danecraft. Look for “Danecraft Sterling.” Browse Danecraft.
• Beau (Providence): “Beau,” “Beau Sterling,” or “Beaucraft,” from the late 1940s. Known for sterling charms and leaf and floral pins.

Other names you’ll see

• Whiting & Davis: best known for metal mesh bags, also mesh and other jewelry. Browse
• Marvella: simulated pearls; bought by Trifari in 1982. Browse
• Richelieu: pearl jewelry; later tied to Lisner. Browse
• Goldette: Victorian-revival style, mid-1950s to 1970s. Browse
• Avon: jewelry from the mid-1960s, marked “AVON” or “©AVON.” Browse

Unsigned doesn’t mean unknown

Some of the most sought-after vintage costume jewelry carries no signature at all. DeLizza & Elster made bold rhinestone jewelry in the 1960s that was almost never signed; a limited number of styles carried “Juliana” paper tags around 1967, and sellers now use “Juliana” for the whole style, and sometimes for anything that resembles it. Miriam Haskell, Czech glass, and many smaller workshops also went unsigned or relied on tags.

With unsigned pieces, the construction, the stones, the findings, and the design carry the identification, and any attribution is an opinion. A good listing says “attributed to” or “in the style of” and explains why.

When a mark lies

Popular marks get faked, and genuine signed parts get combined with pieces that aren’t original. Be suspicious of a crisp mark on a heavily worn piece, crude or uneven stamping, a mark on a part that looks newer than the rest, or construction that doesn’t fit the era the mark claims. A mark is strong evidence. It isn’t a certificate.

Next steps

Once you know the maker and era, you can look up what the same design actually sold for. Our guide to whether vintage costume jewelry is worth anything explains how. If you’re shopping, signed pieces turn up most often among brooches, mid-century jewelry, and the wider vintage collection.