Weiss Jewelry

Weiss Jewelry

Weiss Jewelry

Weiss designed some of the most beautiful, if underrated, rhinestone jewelry of the post-World War II period, skilfully presenting its Austrian crystal rhinestones of exceptional clarity and colour in handcrafted designs.

Albert Weiss learned to design and make costume jewelry at Coro, the largest costume jewelry manufactory in the United States, before going on to found the Weiss Company in New York City in 1942.




 The company flourished in the 1950s and 1960s, becoming recognized for its well-crafted, rhinestone-encrusted costume jewelry. The company was so successful that it commissioned Hollycraft to produce some of its work, in order to meet demand.

Weiss Jewelry

Weiss was noted for its use of components of exceptional quality, especially its Austrian crystal rhinestones that were usually prong-set to maximize their clarity and color.




The rhinestones were set in fairly traditional forms, including floral, fruit, foliate, and figural jewelry pieces, as well as a range of Art-Deco-style geometric designs.

Weiss Jewelry

The figural pieces from the 1950s, particularly forms such as butterflies, insects, and single flower pins studded with rhinestones, are keenly collected.



 Settings were of high-quality gold- and silver-plated metals, and alloys were also used, sometimes enameled, while japanning became a widely employed design feature in the 1960s.



 Another desirable form from the 1950s was the Christmas tree pin, heavily studded in Weiss's characteristic rhinestones. Many of Weiss's Christmas tree designs were emulated by other costume jewelers.

Weiss Jewelry

The fashionable "aurora borealis" rhinestone was favored by Weiss and his team in the mid-1950s. 

"All the colors of a rainbow, captured in a new imported Austrian stone," ran the advertisement for Weiss's "aurora borealis" jewelry.

Weiss Jewelry

Weiss's presentation was innovative— stones were sometimes inverted to reveal the more intensely iridescent effect of the underside. In the mid-1950s, Weiss alsodeveloped a simulation of German smoky quartz, called "black diamonds."

Weiss Jewelry

 Set in typical Weiss designs, the "black diamonds" were highly realistic and very beautiful, and are keenly collected today. The copy for an advertisement in Vogue magazine in 1959 read: "Especially created for the smart new smoky-toned fashions.


 Distinctive gray Austrian rhinestones accented with tiny shimmering crystals designed by the pacc-settcr of fine jewelry, Albert Weiss."

Weiss Jewelry

When Albert Weiss retired in the 1960s, his son Michael took over the running of the company. As demand for costume jewelry declined in the late 1960s, the company failed. It ceased operations in 1971.

Weiss Jewelry

The Weiss Company's designs are comparable to those of Eisenberg and Bogoff but have been under-rated and under-priced by collectors, although prices are rising in today's market.

Weiss Jewelry

Buyers should beware, however, as there are many Weiss fakes on the marke Collectors should be suspicious of poor color and clarity or stones that have been glued instead of prong-set. Weiss also manufactured unmarked pieces to sell wholesale through department stores.




 An experienced and reputable dealer can help collectors distinguish unsigned Weiss from fake.

Weiss Jewelry

From 1943, pieces were marked "Weiss" in script or block capitals, or "Albert Weiss" or "AW Co.," where the "W" is larger and in the shape of a crown. Tags may also bear this mark.