Many collectors or just fans of vintage jewelry know the Vendome brand. But the success of Vendome is already the result of history, because before becoming a brand, it was just one of the jewelry collections. True, elite and memorable, but still just a collection.
In the early 1900s, when the boom of entrepreneurship was just beginning in America, department stores began to open. This made it possible not to deeply develop only one type of production, but to do everything and a little bit. On this wave, Emmanuel Cohn and Karl Rosenberger founded the company “Coro”, giving it the name from the first letters of their last names.
The company “Coro” adapted so quickly and deftly to the rapidly changing conditions that by the 50s it not only remained afloat, but even successfully developed, unlike many of its competitors. The brand presented all kinds of jewelry and accessories: necklaces and earrings, cufflinks and tie clips, hat pins and textile decor elements. There were collections of finishing materials, mourning jewelry and monogram brooches. The company itself trained employees without experience, fed them free lunches and helped with housing. All these factors brought the company to a leading position and allowed it to develop even during the Second World War.
Coro began to receive government orders and, against this background, began to develop new product lines. Jewelry was now divided into price segments, for each of which subsidiaries were opened. Thus, at the height of the war in 1944, the “Vendome” brand appeared.
Giving a French name to an American jewelry line was a well-thought-out marketing move. After all, French elegance and style are undeniable. And the popularity of everything French was at its peak in those years.
Only the most expensive and high-quality materials were used for this jewelry line. Jewelry alloys and inlays, enamels, gilding and silvering, pearls and rock crystal. But, despite the popularity and success of the new brand, the company acquired independence, as well as its own hallmark, only in 1953. Before that, the general hallmark “Coro” continued to be put on jewelry.
The Vendome company existed until 1979, creating several collections during this time. Among them were also series of individual jewelry: brooches.
It is the one most often requested by collectors and mentioned in catalogs. Its value most likely lies in its dissimilarity to other jewelry of the Vendome brand. After all, the Eastern collection emphasizes originality rather than elitism. In the center of the composition are not shiny rhinestones and stones, but noble matte jade.
Every year the cost of jewelry under the Vendome brand grows. They are increasingly sold at auctions and go to private collections. And this is the case when quality, which has already been tested over years and decades, is valued along with beauty and style.
