Schreiner Jewelry

There is costume jewelry, and there is costume jewelry, and Schreiner Jewelry is some of the most sought after costume jewelry in the world. Highly collectible, and very hard to find, it reaches prices into the stratosphere for costume jewelry. If you think costume jewelry doesn’t sell in the thousands of dollars for a brooch, a bracelet, a necklace, or a pair of earrings, you aren’t aware of Schreiner Jewelry.

The Founder: Henry Schreiner

Schreiner Jewelry began around 1930 in New York, by Henry Schreiner the founder of Schreiner Jewelry, and the company operated until 1970. Unlike the vast majority of costume jewelry designers, he never moved to Providence Rhode Island, the costume jewelry headquarters, he stayed in New York.

Some of the finest gifts in life, begin by accident, or necessity.  They aren’t planned, and Henry Schreiner entrance into the world of jewelry, and fashion wasn’t planned. He didn’t grow up studying fashion, or design and he wouldn’t have even considered himself an artist. He just didn’t begin his company that way.

Henry Schreiner was born in 1898 in Germany, and was raised in a middle class family in Germany. After world war 1, Germany faced many economic hardships, and he emigrated out of Germany, and into America to seek a better life.

Henry Schreiner was trained as a blacksmith. When he came to New York, cars were showing up everywhere, and the need for a blacksmith had waned. People didn’t need horseshoes to travel, they had cars.

In 1927, Henry Schreiner found a job working with the Better Brothers, a company that made shoe buckles, and Schreiner went to work for them. That is how he ended up in the jewelry business.

Schreiner Jewelry Begins with Shoe Buckles

Schreiner shoe buckles on auction

Schreiner Jewelry – Shoe Buckles. The beginning

Back of the shoe buckle

And what is amazing is I found a pair of these very early shoe buckles, made around 1930. The shoe buckles are unsigned. They have all of the markings of Schreiner Jewelry, and they are absolutely gorgeous. They have the dog tooth prongs, the dome shaped inserts, the inverted stones and they were cast in copper.

I don’t know if they are made by Schreiner when he worked for the Better Brothers, or if they were made when Schreiner opened his own jewelry making business in 1930.

They are one of the first pieces of Schreiner jewelry, made around 1930.

Schreiner Jewelry – Shoe Buckles. The beginning

Recognizing Schreiner Jewelry: The Markings

Some of the Schreiner jewelry is signed, and that makes it much easier to recognize and validate that it’s Schreiner jewelry. There are a few signatures that are common to identify Schreiner Jewelry.

Schreiner Clip Earrings
signed

Back side of Schreiner

Schreiner Earrings

Between the 1950’s and 1970’s Schreiner introduced pastel shades and springtime colors.These earrings are from that time.They are signed Schreiner of New York.

One of the best signs of Schreiner jewelry is the dog tooth prongs. Another is the inverted rhinestones, and another is the dome shaped rhinestones. 

Schreiner Jewelry was sold to high end department stores, stores like Saks Fifth Avenue laid out Schreiner Jewelry on a case to showcase the beauty of not only the stones, but the craftsmanship.

Schreiner jewelry  is some of the most prized costume jewelry from days long ago. Its remarkable given the founder began his journey as a blacksmith, and never considered himself an expert in the fashion industry.

For more information about Schreiner jewelry, I highly recommend the book by Carole Tanenbaum, and Eve Townsend, called Schreiner. Most of the information for this article originated from that book.

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