Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

When I saw the following five ads for Swarovski crystals, I thought of a hundred twinkling stars.  

The first one is a double-sided ad featuring the crystals before they are made into jewellery.  The reverse side of the page are the magical results of arranging them into something beautiful!

 Swarovski Crystals

French Vogue

May 1961

Etsy Listing # 73621301 

 French Vogue

May 1961

Etsy Listing # 73621367

 French Vogue 

May 1961

Etsy Listing # 73622125

 French Vogue

September 1961

Etsy Listing # 73622444

 French Vogue

September 1961

Etsy Listing # 73622499

Daniel Swarovski (October 24, 1862 – January 23, 1956), formerly Daniel Swartz, was born in northern Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). His father was a glass cutter who owned a small glass factory. It was there that a young Swarovski served an apprenticeship, becoming skilled in the art of glass-cutting. In 1892 he patented an electric cutting machine that facilitated the production of crystal glass.

In 1895, Swarovski financier Armand Kosman and Franz Weis founded the Swarovski company, originally known as A. Kosmann, Daniel Swartz & Co, which was later shortened to K.S. & Co.  Wattens, Tyrol (Austria), to take advantage of local hydroelectricity for the energy-intensive grinding processes Daniel Swarovski patented. The company established a crystal cutting factory in Wattens, Tyrol (Austria), to take advantage of local hydroelectricity for the energy-intensive grinding processes Daniel Swarovski patented.

To create crystal glass that lets light refract in a rainbow spectrum, Swarovski coats some of its products with special metallic chemical coatings. Aurora Borealis, or "AB", is one of the most popular coatings, and gives the surface a rainbow appearance. Other coatings are named by the company, Crystal Transmission, Volcano, Aurum, and Dorado. Coatings may be applied to only part of an object; others are coated twice, and thus are designated AB 2X, Dorado 2X etc.

Whatever they're called, the result is absolutely amazing!



 

Monet Gold Costume Jewellery

Monet
Gold Costume Jewellery
Vogue USA
 April 1, 1963
Etsy Listing #69737621

Costume jewelry was further made popular by various designers in the mid-20th century. Some of the most remembered names in costume jewelry include both the high and low priced brands: Crown Trifari, Dior, Chanel, Monet, Napier, Corocraft and Coventry.

A significant factor in the popularisation of costume jewellery was the Hollywood movie. The leading female stars of the 1940s and 1950s often wore and then endorsed the pieces produced by a range of designers. If you admired a necklace worn by Bette Davis in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, you could buy a copy from Joseff of Hollywood, who made the original. Stars such as Vivien Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor and Jane Russell appeared in adverts for the pieces and the availability of the collections in shops such as Woolworths made it possible for ordinary women to own and wear such jewellery.