American Costume Jewelry: Art & Industry, 1935-1950, N-Z

I recently received both books (A-M and N-Z) in this series and they are truly an outstanding set of books! I also own Brunialti's "Tribute To America" and "American Costume Jewelry 1935-1950" books but this series with newly updated and researched information along with 300 new photos is a collector's dream! Besides glorious photos, it provides patent information, detailed descriptions, along with any advertisement information these pieces were featured in. Anyone familiar with Brunialti's books, know they are not pricing value guides, but informative books designed to showcase the most highly sought-after collectible jewelry desired by a beginning collector to a seasoned experienced collector. Any true collector will appreciate having these books in their reference library.

I purchased this series a few years ago and still use it today. The book displays beautiful period jewelry and well researched. This series is necessary for any jeweler or craftsperson; designer of fashion; professor or student - a must have for you library.

for collectors of vintage costume jewelry thru 1950 this book is a must, the English version of the earlier Brunialti extensively researched volumes in Italian. so much easier to read and enjoy, pictures, patents and ads are great only wish it had price guides. same goes for volume A-M

I agree with a review I read earlier here that said this is more of a coffee table book than a reference. It has nice photos, and if you read the text, there is some good and knowledgeable information. If you collect or resell costume jewelry, it will help you to recognize specific pieces that are pictured, and give them the label of "book piece." But what I really wanted, and have yet to find, is a book on costume jewelry that will be truly helpful in identifying unsigned pieces and in assigning an approximate date to pieces, and also in learning something about the less famous companies. This book dedicates a lot of space to Trifari, which is OK. Trifari jewelry is wonderful. But it's also really easy to identify, because it is signed, and because of other online resources, such as design patents. I wanted help with "mystery" pieces. This isn't that book.

A beautiful book,with first class histories and illustrations.It has just arrived,so I am still reading.This type of bookcan give a great education to anyone interested in collecting costume jewelry and goodness knows--there is alot to learn.Doran L

In this second part of American Costume Jewelry I found a lot of very interesting information about figurative jewelry from well known and less known designers and manufacturers.A lot of beautiful photos.No pricing information but I don't care because they are variable.

Unbelievable that no review that i see mentions the astonishing racism. Figural jewelry constitutes a tiny proportion of the products made by most of the makers they cover, but these authors go OUT OF THEIR WAY to feature EVERY possible figural piece they can find that is a horrible racist caricature. I mean, I read the reviews, bought both volumes, and i cannot believe my eyes: page after page of the worst of American historical (and i mean, lets be real, present day) racist imagery, and almost nothing else--a scattering of other types of jewelry. I want to throw out my books, but I came here to write this review first. It's 2023 folks. Come on. And before you all jump on to defend the authors, I get that this was written awhile back, and I GET that US jewelry makers did make these racist figural pieces at the time, and as collectors we should all know about them. I don't object to information about them. What I am talking about is the authors obvious and bizarre intent to devote an overwhelming proportion of the book to them, and almost nothing but them. It's gross, and it's problematic, and honestly the books should come with a trigger warning.

Fantastic book with many detailed photos of large collections. Ignores some of the other smaller companies/trends and focuses on the larger better known companies.