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.

[beekeeper_42]

All three of your pieces are interesting, and have most of our components.  The first brooch I would have to rule out however.  Your middle "Brick **bleep**HOUSE" brooch, I would also say no, since 99.999% we would grind the end of the wires.  The earrings could be but they are so simple I can't say 110% yes.  Sorry

[beekeeper_42]

Family secret time.  According to my mom, since Heinrich died before I was born, he basically made what the dress-house designers were looking for at the time.  Beyond that I don't really know.    My dad also worked with the designers, but on a much smaller scale, then my grandfather.  Also the designers deferred more to his ideas, than in my grandfather's time. He didn't sketch, but would lay out the stones at his work station, and "build" the piece.  His engineer schooling coming out I guess.  Mom said he had a huge encyclopedia of the world's royal jewels, both Europe, and Asia, that he would refer to.  I don't remember ever seeing it, however.  His ideas for flowers, bugs, and animals came right here from our little hobby farm.  The poodle pin was modeled after our toy poodle, Jimmy. I said earlier that most stores had seasoned jewelry buyers, until the mid. to late 60s.  These often gave great advice, since often something that sold well, in say, Texas, might not do as well in NYC.  He also loved using the old, small, odd lots of stones that we acquired through the years.  Some very old already when my grandfather bought them.  Some ideas,  I think came from his time in the military, like his Ruffle pin, and crosses, look like German medals from both world wars..  After he made up a sample, mom would wear it to see if it was wearable.  This might reveal the need to move the pin, or earring base to lay right or be comfortable to wear all day.  

[beekeeper_42]

PS see the bug brooch Dream Peddler asked me about earlier.  See how the wires are ground smooth where they are soldered on the back??

[theshoppingmom2]

@beekeeper_42 

I love dogs and how he did a brooch after your family poodle makes me smile! Jimmy will live forever ,kind of like a statute!

I can just imagine him sitting there moving the stones around and playing with the different colors! Can you just  see if somone came by and hit the table where the  would be designs were , OMG!! and had to start all over again!

I did that with some of my clothing designs, like your mom did with the jewelry pieces they created. If it felt good I would approve. Most times  there had to be modifications.  I guess if the brooch was too big or heavy  maybe move it to a coat instead of a dress or blouse or maybe turn it in to a belt?

Thank you for sharing this with us!

[antiqacres]

I just found this thread and am excited to see if someone can help me find a replacement rhinestone for my Schreiner earring. This set is a treasured one, inherited. The very bottom rhinestone is missing and I've searched for years to find a replacement with no luck. Do these older original stones exist? 

Carolyn

 

 

[beekeeper_42]

Sadly nearly all of our loose stone inventory burned up in our barn fire, nearly 20 years ago.  Up to then my mom would continue to make repairs to our jewelry.  Several store buyers would comment that we were the only jewelry house where the stone-setters would interrupt their lunch to help them out, before we closed.  The smaller stones were from Austria, and are common.  There are several sites on the internet that sell stones.  Make sure you get "Machine Cut" which is the higher quality stone we used.  You will need to measure the setting in mm, like 8 X10 .  If you can only find foiled stones, the backing can be removed with strong acid bath.  We used nitric acid diluted by about 1/4 to water, and can be reused many times, but slowly gets weaker.  Make sure you use a glass container while soaking the stones, and rinse well!  Make sure you don't get solution on skin, or eyes!!!  Good luck!  Let us know how you make out.  Stephen. PS, that is a very pretty set

[antiqacres]

Yes I'll let you know how the search goes! I'm so sorry to hear that there was a fire, that's terribly sad.  I appreciate your response and all of the information you shared. I hadn't heard of machine cut, so I'll make aure. Also, thank you for the information on how to prepare the stone should I be lucky enough to find it. The color itself is quite unique, sort of a teal blue. The stone measures 6mm x 4mm. Once again, I thank you for your help! 

Regards,

Carolyn 

[antiqacres]

I am excited to tell you that I was able to find a near perfect replacement online.  Also, my jaw dropped when I found my exact brooch pictured in the book SCHREINER  MASTERS OF TWENTIETH-CENTURY  COSTUME JEWELRY  by Carole Tanenbaum & Eve Townsend. I have included a photo of my repaired earring as well as the book example. 

Carolyn 

 

 

[beekeeper_42]

They look GREAT, but then I have a sentimental attachment To my dad's and grandfather's creations.  Eve and her family stayed with me for a few days, last month.

[lionslair]

I too am very aggravated by sellers fraudulently misrepresenting their jewelry in the title, such as 18K then saying plated in the description. Reported it to ebay. I said it was illegal to mark or advertise base metal as noble. They responded there was no fraudulence and they were not removing the item, one of which was clearly stamped 18k on the inside of the band. Well, I'm a little old and rusty but wouldn't Federal law override ebay's illegal policies? Sorry for my disgust but as a jewelry lover and collector for 40 years and as an honest person it makes me really mad. So I totally understand how you feel. I started by collecting Florenza Costume jewelry. For  the life of me I can't understand why Florenza sells for so much less than Florenza even though designed and produced by Florenza and is EXACTLY the same except for the tag. I really became aware of it in the Saphirite  category. 

[beekeeper_42]

I think it kept sellers a bit more honest when your "Ask A Question" would show up on their listing page

[shipping-fun]

Hi Stephen, I hope you are doing well! I was hoping you might be able to help me out with this brooch I recently acquired. The design of the piece and construction on the back looks very similar to one that your Grandfather filed a patent for in 1946. Specifically, I was looking at the way the hinge was constructed so that the bottom half of the brooch dangles freely.  This one seems to be very similar. Any insight you may have would be most appreciated. 

Thank you and Happy Holidays,
Katrina

[beekeeper_42]

Katrina;  sadly I never saw the Aqua and clear brooch before.  By the time I was involved in the business good quality, machine made, chain, made out of settings, had been available for many years, so coming up with innovative hinges to give a piece movement were no longer necessary.    My mom might have known, but it's a few years too late to ask her, anymore.  The sketch that you show, ( you must have spent some time looking for that one!) that little brooch I suspect is one of the earliest pieces being sold directly to the stores, since it's one of the few I haver saw that Heinrich  marked with the 1/2 circle tag, "SCHREINER NYC", to prevent it from being copied.  He, and later my father, Ambros, felt a sense of honer being counterfeited, and would say " If they stop copying you... you lost your touch!" .  Good luck! and happy holidays!  Stephen

[shipping-fun]

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question, Stephen.  Yes, that makes sense about the hinge design. I was surprised to find the patent sketch of the early brooch!  I believe that one was only in clear color stones, unlike the aqua stones on the brooch I have. Do you know if the aqua color rhinestones were something that would have been used during that time period? It's not a color I see very often. Your family's jewelry designs are very beautiful and I always enjoy finding new pieces and learning about the history of Schreiner. 

Thanks again,

Katrina

[prajaktasjoshi]

Hello,

A few months ago I found these earrings and brooch at a thrift store for $10. I did not know anything about Schreiner jewelry but these were so beautifully made, I had to buy them. I chanced upon your thread while browsing on ebay. You have posted such amazing information and I am thinking what I bought could be Schreiner pieces. I am posting a few pictures below and would love to know if they are. Either ways, I love the pieces so much but would be wonderful to know who the maker is. Thank you!