Apologies, it’s costume but

As a brand name, Dolfin seems most likely of the terms. Since it's all so symbolic of Venice (who knew?) something more geographical would also fit.

 

I did some research, and most companies of this kind use the lion of St. Mark as a hallmark or the complete gondola as a pendant. I didn't find the "combs" hallmark.
It could be a product of the jewelers of Venice, some of them, given the high tourist turnout, have the necklaces closures customized, thus characterizing the memory and the origin of the jewel. It could be some shop in Murano and its surroundings.

@Any Jewelry it's a pleasure for me.

P.s. i tagged you in my last thread for a last answer eh eh

 

Thankyou all so much for your efforts. I now know a little more about the necklace and a lot more about Gondolas!.

 

Best answer

 

Definitely fine Murano, congratulations on a very cool MCM design!

And, as I am an aficinado of fine fashion jewelry, aka costume jewelry, I must beg you never to apologize for it.

Costume jewelry as opposed to so called precious jewelry is the most democratic form of jewelry that ever existed.

The U.S. has been the most instrumental country to promote its popularity in design and affordability.

I consider myself somewhat of an expert as I devoted around 20 years writing about its history. From one online archive:
Dating our Jewels, the 1930s
Only a small glimpse into the very beginnings of the American costume jewelry industry, this article attempts to show some of the reasons it became so big. Note: If you get to the end, there is a link to a page 2, with more examples, illustrations.

 

I'm sure that is the case for North America, but KSW, Ownedbybear and several other 'joolies', including myself, are in Europe.

On this side of the pond costume jewellery started to become popular in the 18th century, with industrialisation and the rise of the bourgeoisie and the age of invention. It became hugely popular in the early years of the 19th century.
Think of beautiful creations in Berlin iron, cut steel, pinchbeck, black dot paste, French enamels, and of course the gorgeous colourful glass jewellery from the German lands, including Bohemia. Wearing costume jewellery was sometimes a result of wars, and it was also a result of politics, like austerity laws.
Even in the 20th century many German fine jewellers switched to designing costume jewellery because of the bad financial situation of Germany after the Great War, WW I.
Here in the Netherlands we never had costume jewellery from the US. Ours came mainly from France, Germany and Bohemia (later Czechoslovakia), and it still does.

 

My apology was more a nod towards the forum being called Antiquers and this is far from antique. I should have put ‘apologies, modern costume’!.I love costume jewellery although I prefer the older stuff. Most fine jewellery is out of my price range but I appreciate anything made with skill and ingenuity or style no matter its origin or humble materials.
Gorgeous glass beads are wonderful and my weakness!. I will read that link later when the kids are in bed. Thankyou for sharing.

 

In this thread we certainly have a nice product, probably from Murano.
Since I am here, as an Italian, I want to warn you to be rather careful of the numerous companies that are located near Murano and that sell artistic glass that is not original as authentic Murano. There is enormous speculation on Murano, it is one of the most imitated and counterfeited products in Italy, second only to Capodimonte, which is the king of counterfeits. In southern Italy they speculate on Capodimonte, and in northern Italy they speculate on Murano.

 

Maybe we should step away from Capodimonte after the last blood letting?.
Where there is a quality product there will always be fakers. I didn’t know Murano was faked so Thankyou for the heads up.

 

I think the Italians would argue that Schiaparelli was of some note and perhaps the Fench might argue for Coco Chanel. To say the least.

Archibald Knox didn't make what's often thought of as serious precious gems, but his stuff sells well into four figures, despite minimal intrinsic worth. Cut steel was of more worth than gold. Mallorca made faux pearls are costly. Damascene, many centuries old, has iron as its base.

And as @Any Jewelry rightly says, European costume jewellery well predates the growth of any such industry in the USA. Indeed, Ancient Egypt produced astonishing glass and faience pieces, as did Greece and Rome a litle later.

It's faintly absurd to suggest the US started it or that the 1930s was the beginning. There's considerably more costume jewellery outside the US than in.

Murano is, of course, an island not a maker.

 

@Ownedbybear Thanks for the reminder that Murano is not a maker. I don't recall saying that, however, but if you can find it I stand corrected . Fine Murano was my short reference to the manufacture of fine glass made on the nice little island where they make it that I visited in 1964.

Not belabored here but I actually wrote a series on how costume jewelry started IN THE UNITED STATES, long before I wrote the ref'd article in my previous post. The reference to it was only meant as a brief glimpse into history as to WHY costume jewelry became so popular IN THE UNITED STATES. This reference was never meant to criticize the role of costume jewelry elsewhere in the world. I do know that glass was often substituted for precious gems in Egyptian tombs because, as I once wrote, "the dead did not complain."

If anyone is interested in spending a few weeks(!) with my approx. 12-year output on c.j. history, much of it can be found on the Wayback Machine, under Costume Jewelry Collecting with Isabelle Bryman, [link to 1998 index only, others linked] and also under All Info About Costume Jewelry with Liz Bryman, [one partial archive index of two.]

I am the same person under both names but had to hide my real name under a nom de plume while in transit writing between the two sites back then.

Peace. I love all costume jewelry. I even like precious

 

Glass was valued as highly as colored stones, a luxury good, not a cheap substitute.

 

@Bronwen
I'd like to read where you quoted this from as I didn't see it anywhere in my research. Please?

 

It was long ago I read that; I did not make a note of the reference. Feel free to reject an unsupported assertion. Where did you read that the Egyptians, who interred so much gold, stinted their royal dead when it came to stones? How do we know what they chose not to include with grave goods, that substitutions were made? Given all the stuff the afterlife evidently required, it seems to me the dead cared very much.

 

yes but not exactly :

WHAT IS THE VETRO ARTISTICO® MURANO BRAND?
It is a collective trademark established by the Veneto Region with law no. 70 dated 23/12/94 and managed by the Promovetro Murano Consortium, which certifies that the products are made on the island of Murano

WHY A BRAND?
To protect one of the symbols of Made in Italy in the world and, at the same time, guarantee the consumer the originality of a product that is the result of a millenary artistic tradition born and developed on the island of Murano.

WHO CAN USE IT?
Only companies that produce artistic glass in Murano can apply for it: if authorized, they become concessionaires of the Vetro Artistico® Murano brand.

HOW DOES IT WORK?
The licensed companies affix an anti-counterfeiting sticker on their products - the Trademark - which unequivocally certifies their origin.

HOW IS THE STAMP MADE?
The stamp reproduces the logo of the Vetro Artistico® Murano brand and can be red or blue depending on the type of processing. The identification code of the manufacturing company is shown at the top. Since 2016, the sticker also has a serial number and a data matrix code that uniquely identify the product, representing its "identity card".

WHERE CAN I FIND THE PRODUCTS WITH THE BRAND?
The products with the Vetro Artistico® Murano brand are sold all over the world, but to find out the list of authorized shops in Venice and Murano see the SHOP page.
v v v v v
https://www.muranoglass.com/negozi/


So, Murano is not only an island, but also a trademark
(i'm italian)

This is the original logo


it can be with black or white (text & background) and the stamp can be red or blue

@Ownedbybear @lizjewel @Any Jewelry @Bronwen @KSW

 

Absolutely. The invention of glass was an amazing step in the first place, and I can imagine being able to make close copies of the earth's treasures must have felt like coming close to creation itself. Sharing the beauty of man-made glass with the dead seems like an honourable deed to me.

Thanks for the info, Gian.

 

Value was and still is about rarity and difficulty of making. In Ancient Egypt, glass beads were enormously difficult to make and highly sought after. Cut steel when first made, was expensive to produce. Bronze jewellery, likewise - and of course, Cornwall was about the only decent source of easily mined copper for millennia.

As to glass being "substituted" that is certainly never stated in the exhibits in either the Cairo Museum or the British Museum, say. Or the V&A, which has some stunning pieces. No one would have dared cheat a dead Pharoah: it was thought they'd exert revenge on anyone who tried to short change their grave goods.

@Gianluca72 - really useful, many thanks. I have indeed seen much "Murano" glass, being a bit of a glass nut. There's a label often found which says Lavorazione Arte Murano. It never saw Italy.

This: "The U.S. has been the most instrumental country to promote its popularity in design and affordability." Simply not true.

 

And tin.

Agree 100%. There is simply too much evidence that others were more instrumental, and at a much earlier date. Just take a small country like Bohemia (once an independent kingdom).

 

A clarification: The sentence refers to costume jewelry in general, not glass in particular.

Whether anyone chooses to dispute it is up to them.

I still maintain that costume jewelry produced anywhere outside the U.S. was never as ubiquitous, varied, affordable, not to mention popular, accepted and respected as an art form as the U.S. industry output when it got its start in the early 20th century.

This is not to say that other countries have not had sizable costume jewelry industries, they certainly have. For sheer volume, design excellence and affordability the U.S. industry in the 20th century still led the world. It was not until the late 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, and as we speak, that the Oriental industries could outcompete it.

My 1998 article series on costume jewelry in Providence, RI, on the Wayback Machine covers costume jewelry history from early Colonial times to almost present day, in 8 Parts. It includes references to industries in other countries and how they interacted with each other and the U.S. for over 200 years.
My sources are included.

 

Tin, absolutely.

As to the rest, Britain was the powerhouse of the 19th C world. Massive amounts of costume (non precious) jewellery made here. We didn't buy US stuff, because there was almost none to buy. We did buy Bohemian, French , Italian and such like of course.

Your article concentrates on Rhode Island, with tens of makers. We had thousands. And a far larger market.

In the 20th C, here, costume was very affordable indeed and even more mass market. It certainly wasn't influenced by American design: it drew from Paris and Milan if anything, as well as local superb designers. Couture houses influenced at the top of the pyramid, down to knock offs at the bottom.