FINE JEWELRY

Fine Jewelry

Fine Jewelry

Coro covered all the bases: as both innovator and imitator, the company was attuned to the market and produced a vast range of quality jewelry that addressed every fashion and every pocket, from dime-store pieces to top-end treasures.

Coro was established in 1900 as Cohn & Rosenberger, a boutique selling outsourced designer jewelry. The company reached its zenith in the 1930s, after opening a factory in Providence, Rhode Island, to manufacture its products. It eventually employed around 3,500 staff.

Fine Jewelry

The Coro brand was synonymous with well-made lower- and mid- priced pieces reflecting the latest fashions. By the mid-1930s, Coro had retail stores in many US cities, and factories in Britain and Canada as well as the United States: its diversity and volume of output made it the world's largest costume jewelry manufactory.

Fine Jewelry

Fine Jewelry

The company also had a range of upmarket brands, Corocraft being the best known. Corocraft products were high quality and featured expensive materials, such as sterling silver and crystal rhinestones from Europe.

 The Vendome line, introduced in 1944, was its most exclusive label and was so successful the brand became a subsidiary of the firm in 1953. Coro's sets for Vendome arc in great demand. Pegasus was another Coro brand, but it is not as collectable as the "Duettes" or Vendome pieces.

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 Top-end Coro Pegasus rhincstone pieces compare with the very best from other companies.Coro's sales team, led by Royal Marcher, took the products across the I'nited States, opened a factory in England in 1933, and contributed hugely towards the company's success. 

However, the success of Coro & Corocraft cannot be attributed solely to the company's market presence. It was also due to the talent of its designers: "Franyois," Robert Geissman, Oscar Placco, Massa Raimond, Gene Verecchio, and Albert Weiss.

Fine Jewelry

In 1924, the highly creative Adolph Katz joined as design director. I lis design style was delightfully whimsical, and his talent made a huge contribution to the company's success.

 He was responsible for the delicate en tremblant floral pins, featuring elements that "tremble" and move, and his "Jelly Bellies" and other animal pins arc avidly collected.

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 From the 1930s to the 1950s, "Jelly Belly" pins were all the rage: they featured a stone—often colored-glass cabochons or Lucite—in the center to represent the animal's belly.



Fine Jewelry

 Lucite, a plastic, was developed by DuPont in 1937 and proved an effective substitute for a range of rock crystals, such as chalcedony and moonstone. Lucite was quickly adopted by many costume jewelers, and Coro mainly used it in its translucent white form for "Jelly Belly" pins.

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The skills of jeweler's son Gene Y'crecchio ("Verri"), who joined the firm in the 1930s, swiftly took him to the position of chief designer, which he held for 33 years. 1 lis key pieces include the "Camellia Duette," the "Owl Duette," the "Twin Birds Duette," and the "Flower Duettes."