Miriam Haskell marks

About Miriam Haskell

Miriam Haskell established her costume jewelry business in New York City in 1926, opening Le Bijou de l’Heure in the McAlpin Hotel. Frank Hess became the company’s principal designer. The workshop made necklaces, bracelets, brooches, dress clips and earrings from glass beads, simulated pearls, crystals and decorated metal findings. Floral arrangements and elaborate ornament extended to clasps and the backs of pieces, with small components wired onto pierced supports.

The firm’s early jewelry was generally unsigned. Wartime restrictions on metals and imported materials encouraged designs using wood, shells, seeds, leather and plastics. These lighter materials could form elaborate flowers and clusters without the metal settings used in later work. Permanent signatures appeared irregularly in the late 1940s, followed by wider use of the Miriam Haskell name on plaques, clasps and earring findings.

Haskell withdrew from the business in 1950 and her brother Joseph took control. Hess remained until 1960, when Robert Clark succeeded him. Later designers included Lawrence Vrba. The company continued under subsequent ownership, retaining the founder’s name on jewelry. The signature identifies the business rather than a personal autograph or a guarantee that Miriam Haskell designed the individual piece.