Caviness Jewelry – A Touch Of Feminine Appeal And Finesse
Here is another interesting stop on the jewelry alley! Caviness jewelry continues to delight collectors and lovers of beauty with its finesse and elegance.
These beautiful and interesting jewelry pieces are the creation of Alice Caviness, a charming, small-framed blonde with a southern drawl and a strong, yet feminine, demeanor.
Caviness Jewelry: How It All Started - The History
Model-turned-entrepreneur Alice Caviness launched her own clothing business in New York City.
After World War II, Alice Caviness started making costume jewelry by leveraging her experience in the clothing sector.
In the 1940s, her business started producing and importing costume jewelry and accessories to go with her outfits.
Caviness jewelry is well-known for its vivid, daring offers with premium stones.
Alice’s husband, Jules Junquerra, a second-generation Spaniard, had been working in the lamp and shade industry, but when the jewelry industry grew, he joined her there.
Both Alice Caviness and her husband possessed a keen sense of fashion, a dignified outlook on doing business, and high moral standards.
Lois Steever joined Alice Caviness around 1957. She started off as a sales representative and acquired the company from the Cavinesses in 1982, around 25 years later.
Even though Alice Caviness passed away in 1983 and retired to Florida in 1980, Lois Steever continued to run the Caviness jewelry line until around the year 2000.
Abundance Of Flair
Alice Caviness Jewelry Company has been making jewelry since 1943. Similar to Chanel and Schiaparelli, Caviness's jewelry line was intended to complement Alice’s garment creations.
Due to her flawless sense of style, Alice Caviness attracted attention with her abundance of flair. Her taste is evident in her jewelry.
As expected, only the greatest shops sold Caviness jewelry.
You can also find some of these magnificent Caviness jewelry in DSF Antique Jewelry's online store.
Alice’s enameled pieces are also popular and the vibrant sterling silver pins that were brought from West Germany in the early 1960s are of particular importance to collectors.
During this time, German artisans also produced beautiful filigree metalwork and silver jewelry with gold plating.
Initially, some of the Caviness jewelry pieces were made in their own factory, but they also imported and had items specially made for them.
Alice Caviness or her jewelry designer, Millie Petronzio, created the jewelry itself.
Millie worked at Caviness until 1982 before moving on to become the head designer at Miriam Haskell Jewelry.
They frequently collaborated by discussing concepts, looking through beads, rhinestones, and findings, and choosing color schemes.
Throughout her 25 years on the design team, Petronzio earned two Swarovski awards for costume jewelry. Later, she became Miriam Haskell's chief designer.
The Designs Of Caviness Jewelry
In the early 1960s, Alice and Jules discovered producers of exquisite sterling silver and gold-plated jewelry, cloisonne enamels, and filigrees in Europe.
These items turned into line mainstays, and the Caviness jewelry collection also included the "fashion" line of costume jewelry made of beads and rhinestones.
The less brilliant "gold-filled" Caviness jewelry, such as bangle bracelets, shell cameo pins, and necklaces, are less well-liked than the ones with rhinestones and enamel.
Also, Alice developed several beaded necklace sets in the 1950s and 1960s, just like many other jewelry design businesses.
Along with producing matching jewelry sets in a variety of striking designs, the company also produced rhinestone brooches.
Various animals and florals with ivory accents are among the Cavaness jewelry themes.
The designs of Alice's brooches, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings are typically unrelated to historical costume and fashion jewelry from the 1920s and 1930s because they were created in the postwar era.
Instead, via their exuberance and liveliness, Cavaness jewelry pieces respond to the promise of affluence that marked the 1950s and 1960s.
However, other Caviness jewelry, particularly the cameo brooches, has echoes of Victorian jewelry.
Showrooms
Due to its success, by 1949, Alice’s company opened a showroom on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
In addition to the New York showroom, Caviness jewelry pieces were also displayed at trade events and in Dallas, Raleigh, Miami, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
Only high-end boutiques, department stores, and fine jewelry stores in the United States carried Caviness jewelry, and they were very picky about who did.
Marks Of Caviness Jewels
The majority of Caviness jewelry marks consist of the brand name "ALICE CAVINESS" or the letters "A.C." placed in an oval cartouche or stamped into the metal of the piece.
German-made sterling silver products may specify the material and country of manufacture. There may be marks on gold-filled objects indicating the carat and weight of the metal.
Furthermore, it may be challenging to recognize the company's unsigned jewelry if the same third-party producers (sometimes known as "jobbers") created comparable items for other businesses.
Although every item of Caviness jewelry has its signature on it, a catalog has never been created for these pieces.
Legacy
Every item Alice Caviness produced from the outset displayed her feminine appeal and sense of quality. Caviness jewelry is unique and different, which explains why it is still so adored today.
It was a unique line of jewelry that was produced in significantly lower quantities than brands like Coro and Trifari, making it hard to obtain now and highly collectible.
Also, Caviness jewelry is sought after by collectors due to its use of vibrant gemstones and uniquely sculpted glass components. Many of the used crystals and stones weren't cut traditionally.
Caviness jewelry is always an easy choice to make when you prepare for a nice evening, a gala, or simply because you want to give it as a gift for your loved ones.
