Zoë Coste (1951 – 2007)
Necklace with two enamelled angelots, gold plated
Gold-coloured metal with faux tortoiseshell
Signed.
Zoë Coste gained prominence as a perfumer and costume jewelry designer in 1970 when she opened a store named Ylang-Ylang with her husband, Nino Amaddeo, in Juan-les-Pins on the French Riviera. After the business's name changed to Reminiscence, it expanded to other European cities, including Paris, where its offices were eventually established.
During the 1980s, jewelry marked "Zoe Coste" became popular with fashionable women worldwide. Several lifestyle and fashion magazines, including Mademoiselle and Cosmopolitan, mentioned the company's boutique at 30 West 57th Street in New York. New York magazine described jewelry sold there as featuring "clunky colorful stones set in kitsch motifs." Over time, the company shifted emphasis to the Reminiscence brand rather than simply signing jewelry "Zoe Coste."
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.
Zoë Coste (1951 – 2007)
Necklace with two enamelled angelots, gold plated
Gold-coloured metal with faux tortoiseshell
Signed.
Zoë Coste gained prominence as a perfumer and costume jewelry designer in 1970 when she opened a store named Ylang-Ylang with her husband, Nino Amaddeo, in Juan-les-Pins on the French Riviera. After the business's name changed to Reminiscence, it expanded to other European cities, including Paris, where its offices were eventually established.
During the 1980s, jewelry marked "Zoe Coste" became popular with fashionable women worldwide. Several lifestyle and fashion magazines, including Mademoiselle and Cosmopolitan, mentioned the company's boutique at 30 West 57th Street in New York. New York magazine described jewelry sold there as featuring "clunky colorful stones set in kitsch motifs." Over time, the company shifted emphasis to the Reminiscence brand rather than simply signing jewelry "Zoe Coste."
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.
