eBay

beekeeper_42 · ‎01-27-2018

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.

woodw_sandr · ‎01-27-2018

Thank you so much for your thoughtful post beekeeper_42. This will help to clear up a lot of misunderstandings.

I am sure you are justifiably proud of your father's accomplishments. He has left a heritage of exquisite jewelry that will be enjoyed for generations to come.

beekeeper_42 · ‎01-27-2018

My dad took over designing after my grandfather died, and mom, and dad took over the business. We are on the cover of the new Norman Norell book, with a necklace my grand father made for Norell. The picture was the cover of a "Life" mag. We never thought the jewelry would be collectable, let alone still here 40-70 years after we produced it. I told mom to be glad people are claiming other peoples jewelry is our's rather than no body wants to buy Schreiner. Too bad so much is cheeply made, and looks nothing like what we produced. I can tell who makes an honest mistake on a listing when I tell them who I am, and what they are selling is not Schreiner. The honest one's ask how I know, and change the posting. The rip-off's argue with me, or tell me I'm not who I am, or I should do better reasearch, or don't respond. I don't know how much better research I can do, than growing up in the business.

woodw_sandr · ‎01-27-2018

I have recently been gifted with the Tanenbaum/Townsend Schreiner Book and am looking forward to enjoying all of the majestic pieces. Glancing through, it seems that your family was consulted when they did research for the book, so it's fair to assume that their information would be accurate.

Thanks again for your insight beekeeper_42.

beekeeper_42 · ‎01-27-2018

Yes we met with Eve, who did a great job.

flipping_treasures · ‎01-28-2018

Thanks for posting. Would you be willing to take a look at a few pieces that some of us have, that we believe might be Schreiner? Also I have always heard that the hook and eye construction was a pretty good indication that the piece was Schreiner along with the inverted stones. Can you give us a few other things to look for? It would be really great if we could turn this post into a teaching tool, if you are willing to put in the time. TIA

Though the beauty may be in the butterfly, the struggle and growth occur in the cocoon.

mycheaperstuff · ‎01-28-2018

What a treat to see your post! I have loved wearing and just looking at your family's creations! Such ingenious use of color and innovations of design. Y'all did all that AND withstood the day to day challenges that come with any production and retail enterprise!

I'm selling all of my jewelry so heirs don't have to, Schreiner all sold awhile back, except the one I'll wear at the end. I know if you had commented on one of my listings, I would be one to ask "how do you know" and upon hearing such credentials, would only say 'THANK YOU!"

After all those lifetime's of work, generation after generation, it is so good to know you and your family are still doing well! Thank you and wishing you continued prosperity and health!

beekeeper_42 · ‎01-28-2018

We really don't want to get involved in reviewing jewelry on a regular basis, for people, sorry. Some things to look for on real Schreiner. My grandfather, (Henry) only did casting for a short time. Almost all of these went straight to the dresshouses, so they would be hard to find today. By the mid 30ss he was only using precast settings. We found a few boxes of old settings in silver, but it is unknown to us if he ever produced any jewely with them. Perhaps they were a special order for a designer, but we're not sure. Other than that, all our settings use brass as the base metal, with silver(hard) solder. Anything made with lead/tin (soft) solder is not ours. We only used soft solder for the other style earring clips, (posts, screwback, and small type clip on), and bracelett clips. We never assembled anything with rivets, except pieces for the hair. Then rivets were used to attach the combs. Small premade balls of nevetts riveted together were soldered in to pieces, like on the strawberry pin., but major rivet construction was never used. Nothing other than glass, or plastic stones were used from the 30ss. Our strawberry, and many of the flower pins always have the end of the stem/wire hammered to flatten it. Unsigned is the nost common form, of Schreiner jewels, since that's how it was sold to the dresshouses. My grandfather loved the designers since they bought pieces by the 1,000's, and attached right to the garment to be sold together. Signed pieces went to the stores who bought 100, or so, of one style at a time. There are 1000s of Schreiner belts out there, but most are unsigned. They were sold wholesale to several designers, but as far as I know we were the only ones producing stretch belts. Running out of space. More info if you folks want it later. SDA

evelyb30 · ‎01-28-2018

If, she says. We'll take all we can get! (and thank you!) I don't think I've ever found a signed Schreiner piece. I've probably had a few unsigned ones, but never knew what they were.

She who dies with the most toys still dies; when's the estate sale?

old.crows.nest · ‎01-28-2018

Thank you for sharing your family's history with us.

I am curious if there were any stone shapes that might have been used exclusively or were design /style favorites 🙂

beekeeper_42 · ‎01-28-2018

My dad, Ambros had the keystone designed for us by Cz. master glassmiths living in Germany. These is used in his ruffel pin, and he had it made in two sizes. The stones were very expensive even then, and only made for us. My dad made many handmade settings for the small odd lots of stones my grandfather bought from shops going out of business, through the years, and stones he bought before WWII in Germany. These were mostly sold to the stores due to there limited amounts of stones, and the time it took to make the settings. Once these stones were gone, they were gone forever. So handmade setting with "odd" stones are a big clue. Pins with a hook, was my mom's idea, and from the mid 50ss most pins came with a hook, also. We mostly only used Austrian stones as fillers, and used mostly Cz. made stones from Germany for the statement stones. We used top grade "machine cut" cut stone instead of cheeper 'table polished". The difference is like pressed glassware, compaired to cut crystal. Sorry for my **bleep** spelling, but the nuns failed on me years ago! SDA

beekeeper_42 · ‎01-28-2018

That is the difference, if you are making an honest mistake, and the people trying to sell junk as Schreiner, don't want to be corrected. There is a chalk, and jet pin that is riveted together, on E-Bay right now, that the seller told me is Schreiner, since it looks like Schreiner, even though the construction is wrong. The other one I love is being asked, "if it's not Schreiner, whose is it?" How am I supposed to know! I hope to make some sellers more honest! They should stop trying to get top dollar for junk, by claiming it's made by my family.

beekeeper_42 · ‎01-28-2018

Mom wanted me to correct my post about belts. There were others that made stretch belts, but we were the only one making jeweled fronts.

old.crows.nest · ‎01-28-2018

Thank you for posting this information. You may have just helped ID the Maker of a Vintage Dark Blue AB Rhinestone Stretch Belt Buckle I found years ago but had no starting point for research.