Hobe was founded in 1887 in Paris by Jacques Hobe, a master goldsmith of the French court. After technological advances in mass production, generated by the industrial revolution, Hobe’s descendants began to produce costume jewelry.
His grandson William Hobe immigrated to New York in the mid-1920s and created Hobe Cie, a family-owned high-quality costume jewelry business.
William was hired by Florenz Ziegfeld, an American entrepreneur, theatrical figure and creator of a special kind of variety show – revue, to make stage decorations for his shows “Ziegfeld Follies”, and this probably became the reason for Hobe’s close cooperation with the show business industry, in particular cinema.
In an effort to stun and dazzle the viewer with enchanting brilliance, the extraordinary splendor of his productions, the beauty of the dancers – “girls”, their outfits and jewelry, Ziegfeld spent huge amounts of money on each production. These productions, known as “Ziegfeld follis”, were very popular in 1907-1931 gg. Ziegfeld attracted talented actors to his troupe, many of them later became famous in cinema – Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Fanny Brice, Marilyn Miller, Will Rogers, Leon Errol, Bert Williams, Eddie Kantor.
By 1940, Hoye jewelry was hailed as “Jewels of Legendary Splendor”, now known to us as “Hollywood Chic”, and advertised in magazines. The Hoby company also produced very high quality, high-end jewelry for high-end stores.
Costumed films such as Gone with the Wind were popular in the 1930s and 1940s, creating a fashion for clothing in styles from various historical periods. This trend also required the production of costume jewelry in various vintage styles.
Hobe studied the history of jewelry from different European courts. William has filed over 100 jewelry design patents and occasionally created his own jewelry by hand using silver, gold and semi-precious stones. All Hobe jewelry is marked with the Hobe name in specific Art Deco cursive with an elongated h and/or b, or block letters. William Hobe is best known for his flower brooches.
In its long history, Hoby has always focused on unique design and high quality. They maintained the image of jewelry for the elite, keeping both the prices and the name up to par. Members of the Hobe family ceased running the company in the early 1990s, but the firm continues to produce jewelry to this day.
