Maison Gripoix
Stylised pine cone, blown glass in gradient colours, rhinestones,
Paris, 1950s
signed ‘France’
During this period, Gripoix produced most of the jewelry for Chanel.
Maison Gripoix, a French costume jeweller, was located in Paris. Around 1890, Maison Gripoix sold glass beads and buttons wholesale. Subsequently, specialised in handmade imitations of precious and semi-precious jewels, including parures for Sarah Bernhardt.
In what was then the jewellery district of the French capital, Augustine Gripoix set up shop on Rue Tiquetonne. The design of stage necklaces for Sarah Bernhardt in the 1890s was her first claim to fame, followed by costume jewellery for the first couture house in the world, Charles Worth, established the same year as Gripoix. She later collaborated with Paul Poiret, whose high-society clients commissioned pieces for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes to go with the evening dresses they wore.
When the molten glass is poured into a mould, rather than through the kiln-firing of a paste of ground glass and binding agents, ‘Pâte de verre,’ or glass paste, is made. Pâte de verre has long relied on producing pieces of jewellery in various shapes and colours, demanding replicas of their precious jewels; princesses and aristocrats commissioned necklaces to match their fur stoles.
The process is extremely labour-intensive. The metal parts had to be stamped, as soldering would have cracked the liquid glass. Each individual piece was then blown by a specialist glassblower, who had to use exactly the right amount of glass, as corrections were impossible. Even back then, Gripoix jewellery was rare and expensive.
Maison Gripoix was connected with the couture houses Worth, Poiret, Piguet, Dior, and Fath, and for four generations, they manufactured costume jewellery.
From the 1920s to 1969, the founder’s daughter Suzanne Gripoix collaborated with Coco Chanel . Chanel was famous for combining her necklaces with real and fake pearls. Suzanne Gripoix created a particular form of irregular glass pearl for her, giving her a mother-of-pearl sheen.
Over most of the 20th century, the design house, later headed by Josette Gripoix, Suzanne’s daughter, continued to supply costume jewellery to leading fashion houses, including Yves Saint Laurent, Dior and Balmain.
About Vintage Costume Jewelry:
Costume jewelry– also known as Fashion Jewelry– was especially made popular in the mid-20th century. While their materials were less precious than real gold and diamonds, using glass stones, semi-precicious stones and lead and brass, many big fashion houses and designers produced highly complex pieces of jewelry that stand for craftmanship that today can only be found in so-called Haute Joaillerie. Most famously, Coco Chanel popularized the use of “faux jewelry”, bringing costume jewelry to life with gold and faux pearls. Chanel's designs drew from various historical styles, including Byzantine and Renaissance influences, often featuring crosses and intricate metalwork. Her collaboration with glassmakers, such as the Gripoix family (Maison Gripoix), introduced richly colored glass beads and simulated gemstones, which added depth to her creations without the high cost of traditional precious stones.
Elsa Schiaparelli– Chanel’s lifelong rival– brought surrealist influences into costume jewelry design, famously collaborating with Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau. She created the House of Schiaparelli in Paris in 1927, celebrating Surrealism and eccentric fashions. Her collections were famous for unconventional and artistic themes like the human body, insects, or trompe-l'œil, and for the use of bright colors like her "shocking pink". While Schiaparelli had to close her avant-garde business in the late 1950s and was forgotten for decades, her designs have recently been rediscovered and are celebrated for their bold design.
In many instances, high-end custome jewelry has achieved a "collectible" status and increased value over time. Today, there is a substantial secondary market for vintage fashion jewelry. The main collecting market is for 'signed pieces', which have the maker's mark, usually stamped on the reverse. Amongst the most sought after are Miriam Haskell, Sherman, Coro, Butler and Wilson, Crown Trifari, and Sphinx.
The term signed however is an invention that only reached European production in the late 1950s- when American buyers started to ask for authentification to distinguish high class designers from mass-produced pieces, while in Europe all costume jewelry had been issued by the fashion houses themselves and hence remained somewhat exclusive from the start.
Maison Gripoix
Stylised pine cone, blown glass in gradient colours, rhinestones,
Paris, 1950s
signed ‘France’
During this period, Gripoix produced most of the jewelry for Chanel.
Maison Gripoix, a French costume jeweller, was located in Paris. Around 1890, Maison Gripoix sold glass beads and buttons wholesale. Subsequently, specialised in handmade imitations of precious and semi-precious jewels, including parures for Sarah Bernhardt.
In what was then the jewellery district of the French capital, Augustine Gripoix set up shop on Rue Tiquetonne. The design of stage necklaces for Sarah Bernhardt in the 1890s was her first claim to fame, followed by costume jewellery for the first couture house in the world, Charles Worth, established the same year as Gripoix. She later collaborated with Paul Poiret, whose high-society clients commissioned pieces for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes to go with the evening dresses they wore.
When the molten glass is poured into a mould, rather than through the kiln-firing of a paste of ground glass and binding agents, ‘Pâte de verre,’ or glass paste, is made. Pâte de verre has long relied on producing pieces of jewellery in various shapes and colours, demanding replicas of their precious jewels; princesses and aristocrats commissioned necklaces to match their fur stoles.
The process is extremely labour-intensive. The metal parts had to be stamped, as soldering would have cracked the liquid glass. Each individual piece was then blown by a specialist glassblower, who had to use exactly the right amount of glass, as corrections were impossible. Even back then, Gripoix jewellery was rare and expensive.
Maison Gripoix was connected with the couture houses Worth, Poiret, Piguet, Dior, and Fath, and for four generations, they manufactured costume jewellery.
From the 1920s to 1969, the founder’s daughter Suzanne Gripoix collaborated with Coco Chanel . Chanel was famous for combining her necklaces with real and fake pearls. Suzanne Gripoix created a particular form of irregular glass pearl for her, giving her a mother-of-pearl sheen.
Over most of the 20th century, the design house, later headed by Josette Gripoix, Suzanne’s daughter, continued to supply costume jewellery to leading fashion houses, including Yves Saint Laurent, Dior and Balmain.
About Vintage Costume Jewelry:
Costume jewelry– also known as Fashion Jewelry– was especially made popular in the mid-20th century. While their materials were less precious than real gold and diamonds, using glass stones, semi-precicious stones and lead and brass, many big fashion houses and designers produced highly complex pieces of jewelry that stand for craftmanship that today can only be found in so-called Haute Joaillerie. Most famously, Coco Chanel popularized the use of “faux jewelry”, bringing costume jewelry to life with gold and faux pearls. Chanel's designs drew from various historical styles, including Byzantine and Renaissance influences, often featuring crosses and intricate metalwork. Her collaboration with glassmakers, such as the Gripoix family (Maison Gripoix), introduced richly colored glass beads and simulated gemstones, which added depth to her creations without the high cost of traditional precious stones.
Elsa Schiaparelli– Chanel’s lifelong rival– brought surrealist influences into costume jewelry design, famously collaborating with Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau. She created the House of Schiaparelli in Paris in 1927, celebrating Surrealism and eccentric fashions. Her collections were famous for unconventional and artistic themes like the human body, insects, or trompe-l'œil, and for the use of bright colors like her "shocking pink". While Schiaparelli had to close her avant-garde business in the late 1950s and was forgotten for decades, her designs have recently been rediscovered and are celebrated for their bold design.
In many instances, high-end custome jewelry has achieved a "collectible" status and increased value over time. Today, there is a substantial secondary market for vintage fashion jewelry. The main collecting market is for 'signed pieces', which have the maker's mark, usually stamped on the reverse. Amongst the most sought after are Miriam Haskell, Sherman, Coro, Butler and Wilson, Crown Trifari, and Sphinx.
The term signed however is an invention that only reached European production in the late 1950s- when American buyers started to ask for authentification to distinguish high class designers from mass-produced pieces, while in Europe all costume jewelry had been issued by the fashion houses themselves and hence remained somewhat exclusive from the start.
