The family of Schreiner Jewelry Post

[beekeeper_42]

The family of Schreiner Jewelry are still alive and kicking.  Mom, Terry, is 89, and can't believe how my parents, and grandfathers creations have become so collectable.  My dad's , Ambros, famous ruffle pin retailed for $7.50 in the mid 1950ss.  It now often sells for over $750.00.  She is also very unhappy of crooked dealers claiming they have unsigned Schreiner, when it's not even close to anything we produced.  I have written a dealer in Cal. several times to remove things that are clearly not Schreiner.  She accused me of being another dealer trying to make her look bad... really!  Buyers beware of anything unsigned unless you have experience identifing Schreiner pieces, and don't believe them if they claimed it's verrified.  Sometimes I will post on a piece if it is clearly a Schreiner piece, and allow the seller to use my post.  Many books have poor information about my family's business.  One dealer claimed Sphinx is a hallmark of Schreiner, and listed some book from the 70ss, that stated it.  Schreiner Jewelry was only made in NYC, not in Europe, or any place else.  We did design for many of the best ready-to-wear, designers of the 30ss- 70ss, that was sold to them unsigned, but only made by us in NYC.  These pieces were sold with the garment.  Hope this helps new collectors, and best of luck to you!

SOME POSTS IN THIS THREAD HAVE BEEN EDITED.  ALL EDITES WILL BE IN CAPS AND IN RED. - SANDY, BOARD MODERATOR.

[flipping_treasures]

Finding great vintage and even antique costume jewelry is always a joy ... but finding a Schreiner piece in great condition is a special treat!

[beekeeper_42]

It was funny I just did the first post since my mom, at age 89, was upset with the crap people were listing as unsigned Schreiner on E-Bay.  The posts took off from there.  Mom could hardly wait for me to come home from work so we could log in to answer all the questions, you folks posted,(she never could figure out the computer).  Mom loved to tell stories about the heydays of American Fashion.  If her aids were still here when I got home she would be bending their ear about the fashion world.  I'll see if I can hit on a new topic, when I remember one.  Have a great weekend!

[silverbulletjewelry]

Hey, Stephen! I have a question on unsigned earrings. I’ve seen many sets of earrings and the seller “verifies” them because the clips say pat. pending. Was that a hallmark of your earrings? They do have the donut hole, but are unsigned. Thanks for all the great info!

[beekeeper_42]

We had several style of earring clips.  The "donut" hole are stamped "SCHREINER", Pat. Pend. or blank.  We were nor the only house to use that style.  More often the base will help you ID them.  We also used posts, screwback, and small clip on

[silverbulletjewelry]

Thanks!

[beekeeper_42]

I cringe whenever I see verified unsigned Schreiner listed on E-Bay.  Most time the seller self-verified, a piece.  How? I know not.  The other one I hate is "SCHREINERY" They are a group of collectors with a vivid imagination on a lot of pieces.  Very rarely can one, even myself, tell if a piece is Schreiner from the front.  I always as for CLEAR picture of the back, so I can see the construction.  We were counterfeited so much I have to see the back to be sure.  I love sellers that show their piece laid on an open page of the new Schreiner book, that looks nothing like what is printed on the page.  Sorry just venting.  Like I always say, buyer beware on unsigned Schreiner

[flipping_treasures]

As a seller, I think it is important to say how an unsigned piece has been verified.  It could have been a book, a trusted site (like the Is It Julianna group), members of the designer's family, thanks Stephen and Mr. Delizza) and sometimes a patend.  If I can't verify a piece there have been times I will attribute a piece based on construction or materials.  But I don't do either without research, research, research.

Generally a collector knows what to look for in a given designer....or at least they should.

[beekeeper_42]

Our basic look remained the same after the first 10, or so years.  But, once my grandfather switched to pre-made settings, our general look, and construction pretty much stayed the same for next 30+ years.  Granted there was some experimenting, to change with the times, but, again, the overall construction stayed the same.  Dead giveaways of ours, HARD,(silver based) solder.  5 ring extender chain with the first ring soldered to the last setting, and most times a handmade hook soldered to a setting on the other side,(NERVER ON A RING) .  Layers are held together with ROUND wire, we very rarely used flat wire, except I suspect some things were bought with flat wire in place like on early berry pins on the riveted balls of settings, that I think my grandfather got when he bought out other jewelry hoses inventory when they went out of business.  Pin hinge, and catch are separate, never on a premade bar, often w/ holes punched in them.  Some times we would solder the pin hinge, and catch on a piece of flat wire with fancy edging, but HANDMADE.  Our pin hinge does not have the little "stops".  The pin is very rarely plated, since they were attached last and we didn't want our workers getting stuck.  Earring clips never land on a flat piece of wire.  We never mixed enamel, and stones.  Hope it helps, but unless you are sure, be suspect of unsigned Schreiner.  Buyer beware!

[dream*peddler]

Thank you for summarizing that, Stephen!  Great amount of information there!  Very much appreciated!

[silverbulletjewelry]

I still find it hard to understand some of the explanations without photos. I'd like a Schreiner identification guide with photos of everything Stephen just described, as well as something like Costume Jewelry 303--Viewing from the Flipside-- where she shows photos of the front and back. [As a retired literary agent, I find there are a lot of books I wished were published, lol!] I do love the Schreiner book, but none of the info Stephen gave was included. It's more of a beautiful coffee table book. 

Don't anyone slap me, but as to the Schreinery site, I'm currently waiting to get 3 brooches added. Two are signed, one is verified by the Schreiner book. I assure you, they want photos of the back to get the pieces verified! If you go to the site and click on the photo of any piece, it clicks to a page that shows both a photo of the front and a photo of the back. I have no idea how/if they verify an unsigned piece that isn't in the book. I know I have a brooch that's signed and they have the same unsigned brooch as "under review." The "under review" has been there forever, and that brooch could be verified in 2 seconds with my signed one! They also took about a year to answer me after repeated emails went unanswered, and it's been a month since I submitted my photos. I'm not holding my breath. 

I appreciate all of you who answer quickly and honestly!

[flipping_treasures]

Silverbulletjewelry, might I suggest that you print out the above information by Stephen, which was totally awesome ... thank you, and then go back over the pictures of the items he has verified as being unsigned Schreiner and see if you can pick up on the attributes he has provided.  Personally, I have saved that post in my info files and will probably go searching to find pictures of the described attributes, when I have time.  It will be a fun project.  Besides, I have a bunch of unsigned beauties I have collected over the years that seeing and understanding what Stephen has described just might yield an undiscovered treasure.  It's one of my favorite things to do! 

[silverbulletjewelry]

Great suggestion. Thanks!

[beekeeper_42]

Sorry since I don't sell on E-Bay I'm not set up to post clear, close up, pictures.  My last post just hit on some easy, quick "tells" that a piece is ours or not.  You hit a good one, that someone should check their unsigned piece against other's being listed on sites that are in fact signed.  There are two issues to look for however; 1 earring clips can be changed quite easily.  2; If our name tag looks like it was replated after the original plating was blistered after it was removed from another piece, since we used hard solder the piece would need to be heated enough to damage the original plating to remove the tag, to switch.  The other thing I see quite often is our pieces being "repurposed" ,where a small, or damaged piece to used in the construction of a lager piece, but with the name tag in place.  The new catch phrases are "EARLY" Schreiner, or "Only ONE I"VE EVER SEEN" that rarely are indeed one of ours.

[beekeeper_42]

P.S. The other thing to watch out for are international sellers.  We only sold, in any amount, to stores in England, and Australia.  We also did not make a separate line for the international market, so they were buying the same pieces as what we sold to the domestic market.  So if it doesn't look like ours, it most likely isn't.  Most countries had a tariff on goods coming into their country.  Germany, or Austria did not want jewelry from the USA, to compete with their local producers.  So I would ask a seller in say, Russia, how they amassed a large collection of Schreiner.  I did hear from Eve Townsend, that we are very popular in China.  But. this is recent, since we never sold directly to China.  There was even talk of the Schreiner book being printed in Chinese, but it didn't work out, for some reason.

[silverbulletjewelry]

More great tips. Thanks, Stephen!

I also keep "databases". Whenever I see photos of a signed piece, I save them to my favorites or watchlist. They don't go away when the item is sold. I also print a color photo of the front and a B&W of the back and have a folder of those to add to the Schreiner book. Little by little, it all adds up. Knowledge is power!