Vintage modernist American silver jewelry

The price of gold and silver is on an upward trend, and having been an eBay seller (and occasional buyer) for a few years now, I notice that it’s becoming more and more expensive to buy vintage silver jewelry. The style of jewelry that I like best is mid-century modernist, particularly Scandinavian and Scottish pieces. While you can still get the occasional eBay bargain in this area, the good deals are becoming harder to come by.

So if you want to start collecting vintage silver modernist jewelry and you don’t want to spend a lot of money, what do you do? Thankfully, there is an answer. Buy American. Much of the American silver jewelry from the middle of the 20th century has a marvellous retro/modernist vibe to it, and prices are usually a lot less than similar pieces by Scandinavian designers.

Beau Sterling (trading name Beaucraft Inc) began in 1947 and traded until 2004. Like many American jewelry companies, it was based in Providence, Rhode Island. Beau sterling made all kinds of silver jewelry, including charms (many of them enamelled), rings and earrings, but many of the Beau pieces you come across are brooches. In particular, there’s a series of stylised modernist animal brooches - the cat one is shown here in this hub but I’ve also seen owls, mice and dogs!

This company is still in operation today and has a long history going back to the Twenties. The name Danecraft derives from the fact that of the company’s founders was an admirer of Scandinavian silver designers. In keeping with this, much Danecraft silver jewelry takes its inspiration from things found in nature, like leaves and flowers.

There are a number of names to choose from, including Napier, Coro/Corocraft and Carl-Art. Coro is perhaps more famous for its costume jewelry but like Danecraft, Coro also made pieces that were a tribute to Scandinavian designers, in the form of its “Norseland” line of silver jewelry which was very reminiscent of Georg Jensen. Coro went out of business in the late Seventies.

Some of the American silver pieces you come across are rhodium plated - this seems to be more often the case than for European vintage silver jewelry. Rhodium plating is designed to stop tarnish but after a time it gets scratched, exposing the silver underneath. The silver gets tarnished, but the rhodium plate doesn’t - hence the “distressed” appearance that you might see on certain items of vintage American silver. The pictures of the Beau Sterling brooch I’ve posted on the right will give you an idea of what I mean. If you prefer the soft patina of actual silver it might not be to your taste but I personally like it; it adds a great "elegantly wasted" look if worn with a vintage outfit.

Oh, and if you see the term “vermeil” in a listing, it means that the item is sterling silver, but plated with gold! Many vintage American jewelry pieces are vermeil, so they’re worth looking out for.

© KitschKat January 2012

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