Hollywood Jewelry

Hollywood   Jewelry



Eugene Joseff's bold designs were made for Hollywood, and Hollywood made him. He designed "the jewelry of the stars," taking inspiration from historical precedents and reinterpreting them, larger than life, to be clearly seen on the silver screen.

Hollywood   Jewelry

Born in Chicago in 1905, Eugene Joseff worked as a graphic artist in an advertising agency in the early 1920s, designing jewelry in his spare time. By 1927, he was training as a jewelry designer while working in Los Angeles to escape the Great Depression that was gripping the rest of the country.

It was during a discussion w ith Walter Plunkett, an established costume designer, that Joseff was challenged to start designing for the movie studios. When Joseff criticized 




The Affairs of Cellini, in which Constance Bennett's costume was accurately styled to the 16th century but her jewelry was 20th-century, Plunkett told him: "Well, if you're so smart, let's see what you can do."

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Joseff's career took off in 1931 with the production of one-off, historically accurate pieces for Hollywood studios, made in his own workshops.




 Astutely, he rented these pieces to the studios, allowing for potential re-hire and amassing an archive of over three million pieces, which is still owned by the Joseff family today. In 1935, he opened a

store, Sunset Jewelry, in Hollywood and founded a new company, Joseff of Hollywood. Joseff supplied historically accurate pieces for films including .4 Star is Bom in 1936; Mane Antoinette in 1938;





The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind in 1939; and Casablanca in 1942.

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Inspired by Hollywood goddesses such as Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe wearing the studio jewels off-screen, in 1937 Joseff began to produce replicas of the cinema originals for retail. Moviegoers could buy a little piece of film-star glamor, and Hollywood held such influence over the public that the replicas were a huge success. Sold through the finest stores in the United States at the time, these pieces are highly sought after by collectors today.

Hollywood   Jewelry

Through the 1940s, Joseff was the major costume jeweler  Hollywood Jewelry  producing most of the pieces seen in historical films. In the February 1948 issue of Movie Show magazine, he gave his advice on styling and accessorizing: "Remember, gold can be worn with more things than silver and topaz is a good stone that looks smart with almost every type of costume." Joseff died in a plane crash in September that same year. The company continued under the aegis of his widow, Joan Castle Joseff (died 2010) and is still family run today.

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SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC

Tn the 1930s and 40s, perhaps as a result of the uncertainties Acaused by the Great Depression, Americans became fascinated by astrology and the "secrets" it could reveal. Inspired by this, Joseff of Hollywood created a series of Signs of the Zodiac pins and earrings which have proved to be perennially popular. Of the twelves designs, the Leo examples have become the most valuable with collectors today because they are considered to be "cuter" than the others. The pin, which features a friendly lion, can fetch $450 (£300) —more than twice the value of those for other symbols.

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The key feature of Joseffs work is the semi-matte Russian gold- plating, a finish he developed specifically to overcome the problem of viewing highly reflective jewelry under strong studio lighting. This finish acquires a dark patina over time.

Joseff s work embraces a huge range of styles. He was inspired by history and drew on the spectrum of influences that had gone before, from Art Deco to Oriental styles, and he studied fine art to select motifs, such as the seashcll inspired by Botticelli's Birt/i of Venus.

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The company's designs worn by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 film Cleopatra were based on pieces found at Tutankhamen's tomb in Egypt.

'typically, Joseff produced demi parures of a necklace or pin with earrings. His designs were unusual in costume jewelry at the time— plain metal pieces or pieces featuring neutrally colored pastes or faux pearls, used sparingly. Black, ivory, or Bakelite examples of his work also exist. However, like other designers of costume jewelry of the time, he maintained a deliberately "faux" impact.

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 Forms were taken from nature: flowers, animals, and shells were favorite themes. A recurring form for necklaces was a decorative chain from which several large, repeating pendants were suspended, usually presented with matching earrings. Movement often featured in the form of stones on jump rings, or in undulating forms within the design.

Key pieces include the "Sun God" and "Moon God" pins, and the Elephant-head necklace and earrings parure, which is probably the most valuable of his designs.

Hollywood   Jewelry

According to family sources, Joseffs earliest pieces are marked  "Joseff Hollywood" in block capitals. From 1950 onward, the mark gradually became "Joseff in script, on an oval plate soldered to the back of the piece, but the overlap between marks was long, so this is not an accurate way of dating pieces. Joseff of Hollywood Jewelry  work has been faked, and fakes may be identified by their more highly polished gold-plating. Stills of film stars wearing the original piece may contribute to the buyer's interest.

In the last decade or so, new pieces have been assembled from original Joseff components. As they use the limited stock of original material, they are not reproductions and arc self-limiting, but prices have dropped slightly because of these pieces.