Your grandmother's jewelry box is sitting on the dresser. It looks like a pile of clip-on earrings, tangled chains, and the kind of rhinestone brooches nobody would wear to a dinner party in 2025. You might be about to let all of it go for three dollars at a yard sale.
Stop. Flip each piece over and look at the back. What's stamped there, and how it's stamped, can be the difference between a twenty-dollar sale and a very pleasant afternoon depositing a check.
Vintage costume jewelry has a real collector market, and it's been climbing steadily. The pieces worth serious money aren't always the flashiest ones in the box. A plain-looking brooch with the right maker's name and the right logo era can outperform a dramatic necklace that's just unmarked department store stock from 1975. Knowing who made something, and when, is almost everything.
Weiss rhinestone brooch in jet or gunmetal settings
Albert Weiss founded his New York company in 1942 and sourced Austrian rhinestones throughout his operation's run through the 1970s, which kept quality consistently high. The pieces most collectors want are the ones in dark settings: jet black enamel, gunmetal tone, or heavily oxidized silver-tone metal that makes the stones pop against a dark background. Weiss made everything from simple floral pins to elaborate butterflies and Christmas tree brooches, and the figural pieces pull ahead of the basics at resale.
A signed Weiss rhinestone brooch in good condition typically brings $40 to $125, with the darker-set pieces and any matching demi-parure (brooch plus earrings in the same design) at the higher end. WorthPoint notes that Weiss “often makes a great point of departure for beginning collectors” because quality examples still turn up at accessible prices. Look for the “Weiss” signature on the pin stem or clasp; pieces marked only with paper tags at original sale are sometimes unsigned. Any missing stones reduce value noticeably, because replacements rarely match original Austrian glass perfectly.
Eisenberg Original dress clip or fur clip, 1930s to 1940s
Eisenberg & Sons started as a Chicago clothing company that sewed rhinestone embellishments onto dresses and found that the ornaments kept disappearing. They began marketing the jewelry separately, and the pieces from the 1930s and 1940s, made by a New York firm called Fallon & Kappel, are now the most collectible. The early designs are dress clips and fur clips, two-pronged fasteners that attached to fabric without a pin. The rhinestones in these are large, clear, and beautifully set; Ruth Kamke's 1940s designs in particular are whimsical and unusually well-finished for the price point.
Common Eisenberg Original pieces with clear rhinestones bring under $150, which makes them realistic thrift store finds. A piece in its original blue velvet-lined box adds $50 to $100 to whatever you'd otherwise pay or charge. The “Eisenberg Ice” marking came later, in the 1950s, and denotes a separately branded line rather than the older Originals. Sterling silver Eisenberg pieces from the WWII era, when base metal was restricted, are more valuable. Check all stone settings; the large stones in older Eisenberg are prong-set rather than glued, which makes replacements easier to spot.
Hollycraft signed rhinestone demi-parure, pastel stones
Hollycraft, officially the Hollywood Jewelry Manufacturing Company, opened in New York in 1936. The pieces most associated with the brand are gold-tone settings loaded with pastel rhinestones: soft pinks, lilacs, blues, and mint greens clustered together in the kind of arrangement that reads as mid-century American glamour. Most pieces are helpfully date-coded, with the year stamped into the piece alongside the Hollycraft name, which makes them easy to place.
A signed Hollycraft pastel rhinestone necklace brings $150 to $175, with a matching clip earring set adding another $30 to $60. The weakness in Hollycraft construction is that the stones were glued rather than prong-set, which means checking each setting carefully for missing or replaced stones before you buy or price anything. The Christmas tree brooches Hollycraft made in the 1960s run $35 to $75 for most designs, with a few harder-to-find examples over $100. The pieces look fragile but hold up well when stored properly; what kills them is loose stones that get lost before anyone notices.
Coro Duette convertible brooch
Coro patented the Duette concept in 1935: two dress clips that fit together onto a special metal frame to form a single brooch. You can wear them as a pair at a neckline, or separate them and clip them onto a collar, pocket, or belt. The mechanism is the key thing. A Duette without its conversion bracket is worth a fraction of a complete set, and a bracket that's bent or broken reduces value considerably.
Simple Coro Duettes from the 1940s and 1950s bring $100 to $250 in clean working condition, with figural designs involving animals or flowers with trembler elements significantly more. The “Quivering Camellia,” where the petals shake on wire springs, is among the most sought trembler designs; the even rarer “Bell Flower” Duette is a grail piece for collectors. Check: do the clips slide cleanly onto the bracket? Do both clips stay closed firmly? Worn or sprung clips won't grip fabric and reduce practical appeal along with price. The Corocraft label, Coro's upscale line, appears on higher-end examples and commands a modest premium over standard Coro markings.
Trifari Crown brooch, gold-tone, 1950s to 1960s
Trifari is the biggest name in American mid-century costume jewelry, which means there's an enormous amount of it, and most of it is worth ten to thirty dollars. The pieces that clear that threshold are the ones with clear design intentionality: heavy pave rhinestone coverage, oversized colored cabochons in dramatic settings, or the crown motif that's synonymous with the brand. The Crown Trifari mark, a small crown logo sitting directly above the name, is the signature of the 1930s through 1960s era pieces.
A well-executed postwar Crown Trifari brooch with mixed pave rhinestones and colored cabochon stones typically brings $50 to $200. Simple floral or leaf brooches sit at the lower end; larger statement pieces with clear stones covering most of the surface push toward the top. The scale of production means reproductions and later pieces marked only “Trifari” without the crown exist in significant numbers, and neither carries the same value. Check that the gold-tone plating is even and intact; worn areas revealing a grey base metal are hard to photograph attractively and reduce resale interest.
Sherman aurora borealis clip earrings, Canada, 1950s to 1960s
Gustave Sherman operated his jewelry company in Montreal from the 1940s until his death in 1975, and his pieces are meaningfully different from American costume jewelry of the same era. He used only Austrian Swarovski rhinestones, in every color and cut the company offered. The rhodium-plated settings don't tarnish; find a pair of Sherman earrings in good condition today and they look like they came out of a store yesterday. That's not an accident.
A signed Sherman clip earring pair in aurora borealis brings $60 to $150, with matched necklace and earring sets in more unusual colors like pale lavender, coral, or deep purple reaching $200 to $450. The pieces are more commonly found in Canada and at estate sales from collectors who traveled or lived there, but they surface across North America. Pieces in red, orange, or pink stones bring premiums because those colors are scarcer in the Sherman archive. The “Sherman” signature is stamped into the clasp or clip finding. Sherman pieces with the same design but unusual color combinations were sometimes made in small custom runs, and these are particularly prized.
Juliana rhinestone parure, unsigned
DeLizza & Elster made jewelry for other brands to sell under their own labels from 1947 through the 1990s. The jewelry was never signed or marked by the manufacturer. What collectors call “Juliana” comes from a brief period beginning in 1967 when the company attached paper hang tags reading “Juliana Original” to pieces sold to retailers, a practice that lasted roughly a year. The hang tags are almost never present today. This means attribution is entirely about construction: look for specific five-link bracelet construction, open-backed rhinestone settings, particular pin stem styles, and the layered multi-stone cluster arrangements that are the D&E visual signature.
Correctly attributed Juliana parures bring $75 to $225 for typical rhinestone sets; art glass or unusual color combinations push higher. The pieces are findable because they're unsigned and people often don't recognize them, which is the appeal. The Costume Jewelry Collectors International website has a detailed construction guide for identification. Knowing those construction markers before you go to an estate sale gives you an advantage most casual shoppers don't have.
Miriam Haskell seed pearl and Russian gilt brooch
Miriam Haskell jewelry was designed primarily by Frank Hess, who worked for the brand from 1926 until the 1960s. The pieces are built by hand: seed pearls and glass beads are individually wired onto Russian gilt (gold-toned) metal findings in layered, textural arrangements that don't look like anything else from the period. Flower clusters, grape bunches, and baroque floral sprays are typical designs. The signature appears stamped into the oval clasp on necklaces and as a script oval on brooch clasps; “Miriam Haskell” in oval cartouche format is the standard mark.
A single signed Miriam Haskell brooch in good condition brings $150 to $400, with a matched brooch-and-earring set adding significant premium. The most important condition factor is the handwired construction: seed pearls that have been rewired, replaced, or supplemented with modern pearls are detectable and reduce value. Check the Russian gilt for evenness of color; original pieces have a warm, slightly matte glow that's different from modern gold-tone plate. Don't try to clean the beadwork with water or chemical cleaners. The dust settles in; working it out is a job for a specialist.
Bakelite carved bangle bracelet, single color
Leo Baekeland patented Bakelite in 1907 as the world's first fully synthetic plastic, and by the 1920s and 1930s American jewelry manufacturers were carving it into bangles, pins, and clips in every shape imaginable. The jewelry peak was the 1930s and 1940s; pieces from this era in clean condition are what the market cares about. Butterscotch, caramel, and cherry red are the most plentiful colors. True turquoise Bakelite is significantly rarer because the color tends to develop a greenish cast over time, meaning few pieces kept their original hue.
A plain uncarved Bakelite bangle starts around $30 at the low end; lightly carved examples bring $75 to $250 depending on the depth and quality of the carving; deeply carved or rare-colored pieces go higher. Authentication is the primary challenge. Modern plastic is sold as Bakelite with regularity. The hot water test works reliably: run warm water over the bracelet and smell it immediately; authentic Bakelite releases a faint phenol smell. A dab of Simichrome metal polish on a cotton swab rubbed on an inconspicuous spot will turn yellow-brown on genuine Bakelite. No reaction means it's newer plastic.
Schiaparelli lava rock earrings or bracelet, 1950s
Elsa Schiaparelli's fashion house closed in 1954 but she licensed her name to American jewelry manufacturers through the 1950s, producing pieces that carried through the surrealist sensibility of her earlier couture work. The pieces collectors most often find are clip earrings and bracelets made with “lava rock” stones, a distinctive speckled glass that looks like cooled volcanic material in black, white, and grey mottled patterns. The signature is “Schiaparelli” in italic script on the reverse; some pieces from earlier licensed production omit it.
Lava rock clip earrings bring $100 to $125 in good condition, with a brooch and coordinating earring set reaching $300 to $400. The lava stones chip easily if dropped or stored loosely, and any chipping is visible and reduces value. The revived Schiaparelli fashion house, which relaunched in 2012, also produces jewelry under the same name; contemporary pieces are clearly marked and priced accordingly, but misrepresentation happens. Pre-1960 pieces show age in the clasp plating and the patina on any metal findings, which is your main visual tell. A piece that looks new and carries a Schiaparelli mark is worth investigating carefully before you pay vintage prices for it.
Joseff of Hollywood retail brooch in Russian gold
Eugene Joseff founded his company in Los Angeles in 1928 and became the dominant supplier of jewelry to Hollywood film productions, designing pieces worn by Vivien Leigh, Marilyn Monroe, and Elizabeth Taylor. In the late 1930s he opened a retail line, sold through department stores, and those pieces are what most collectors find today. The defining characteristic is the plating finish: Joseff developed a proprietary matte gold process specifically to eliminate glare under studio lighting, and the result looks like nothing else in the costume jewelry market. The pieces are warm, slightly rough to the touch, and unmistakable.
Retail Joseff brooches and necklaces typically bring $350 to $750, with larger statement pieces and the figural animal designs at the higher end. The “Joseff” signature in script is on the clasp or pin stem of retail pieces. The company is still operating and still uses original warehouse molds to make limited contemporary runs; patina and visible age in the plating are what separate a 1950s piece from a 2015 piece. Both are collectible, but prices differ. Any piece with a polished or re-plated finish loses the quality that makes Joseff worth the price.
Crown Trifari sterling silver brooch, Alfred Philippe era
Alfred Philippe joined Trifari in 1930 having previously designed jewelry for Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. His signature on a piece is worth paying for. During the Second World War, when base metals were restricted for military use, Trifari shifted to sterling silver for their higher-end line, and these wartime sterling pieces are now among the most collectible the company made. The mark to find is “Crown Trifari Sterling” with a patent number stamped into the back.
Standard Crown Trifari sterling brooches bring $350 to $500 in good condition. The coronation crown brooch, patented in 1944 as Patent 137542, is the best-known design in the series, with rhinestones and colored cabochons set into a sterling crown form. More elaborate sterling parures with matching necklace and earrings reach $600 to $1,200. The patent number is both authentication and dating tool; a quick search on the patent number confirms the design and approximate production date. Pieces with the crown mark but no sterling designation are gold-tone postwar production and bring significantly less.
Hobe sterling and colored glass bracelet, 1940s
Jacques Hobé was a Parisian jeweler who came to America and launched a retail line with his son William, who had previously designed jewelry for the Ziegfeld Follies. The 1930s and 1940s pieces are the most sought by collectors, particularly the bracelets featuring colored glass stones set in sterling silver with vermeil (gold-wash) finish. The construction has a hand-finished quality that's closer to fine jewelry than most costume jewelry of the period; individual stones are prong-set, and the clasp work is solid.
A signed Hobe sterling vermeil bracelet with colored glass stones from the 1940s brings $200 to $600 in good condition, with matched necklace and earring suites reaching $400 to $1,000. Asian-themed sterling silver brooches from the same era, often featuring resin figures designed to simulate ivory, are a separate collector category within the brand. Look for the “Hobe” or “Hobé” signature in script on the clasp. The vermeil finish wears through to the silver on pieces that were heavily used, which is expected but should factor into pricing. The stones should be even in color without cloudiness or chipping.
Miriam Haskell multi-strand baroque pearl necklace
Cherry Orchard Attic via eBay
Miriam Haskell necklaces with multiple strands of baroque and seed pearls are the apex of what the brand produced. The construction is extraordinary and extremely labor-intensive: each strand is assembled individually and then wired together at the clasp in a way that gives the piece its distinctive drape. The unsigned pieces can rival the signed ones in construction quality, because the same workshop produced both, but the signed clasp is what moves the needle on price.
A complete multi-strand Haskell baroque pearl necklace with the original signed clasp brings $400 to $1,200, with the largest and most elaborate examples from the late 1940s through 1950s at the high end. Matching earrings in the same pearl construction add substantially to a set's value. The pearls should be uniformly warm and lustrous; pearls that have dried out, cracked, or gone dull significantly reduce value and can't be restored. The handwired strands should move fluidly. Any strand that's stiff, rewired with modern wire, or noticeably different from the others has been repaired and should be reflected in the price.
Trifari Alfred Philippe jelly belly sterling animal brooch
Alfred Philippe began designing Trifari's “Jelly Belly” line in the early 1940s: animals and insects with bodies made from shaped clear Lucite, set within sterling silver frames with rhinestone and colored glass details. The result looks like a living creature with a glass belly. Every animal in the series had a different production run, and some are dramatically rarer than others. A rooster is harder to find than a duck; a fish is harder than a rabbit. The rarity gradient is roughly inverse to how many were made, and production numbers varied widely across the line.
A Trifari jelly belly rabbit or duck in sterling with clean Lucite and all rhinestones present brings $400 to $600. Rarer animals including the sailfish, spider, rooster, and poodle command $600 to $2,000 and up, with the most sought specimens going considerably higher. The Lucite belly should be clear and crack-free; any cloudiness, yellowing, or cracking to the plastic is significant condition damage that can't be remediated. The sterling mark and patent number on the back are authentication essentials. Reproductions exist, typically in gold-tone metal rather than sterling, with plastic that lacks the weight and clarity of original Lucite.
