Field Guide
Costume Jewelry Makers Marks: How to Read and Date the Mark on the Back
The little mark on the back of a brooch can date it to a decade and separate a five dollar pin from a five hundred dollar one. Here is how to find it, read it, and know which marks matter.
The short answer: turn the piece over and look for a mark near the pin stem, on the clasp, or on a small hanging plaque. Three dating cliffs do most of the work. A copyright symbol, the small c in a circle, means the design is from the mid-1950s or later. The word STERLING on American costume jewelry clusters in the war years, roughly 1942 to 1947, when base metal was restricted. And a patent number or Pat. Pend. points to the 1930s to mid-1950s, the era collectors chase hardest. Text a photo of any mark to (949) 449-1255 and we will read it for you, free.
Where the mark hides
Makers marked costume jewelry in small, easy-to-miss places: the back of a brooch near the pin stem or under the catch, the flat tongue or box of a necklace clasp, the reverse of an earring clip, and sometimes a tiny metal plaque hung near the clasp like a charm. The mark is often worn soft by decades of handling, so tilt the piece under a bright light and let the shadows raise the letters. A phone camera zoomed in does this better than most eyes.
The three dating cliffs
Costume jewelry dating has an unusual advantage: two of its biggest turning points are documented legal and wartime events, not collector folklore, so the cliffs are sharp.
| What you see in the mark | What it means | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Patent number, Des. Pat., or Pat. Pend. | Generally 1930s to mid-1950s | Before 1955 the better houses protected designs with design patents |
| Copyright symbol, the c in a circle | Mid-1950s or later, never earlier | Trifari won its 1955 court case establishing costume designs as copyrightable, and the industry switched to copyright marks |
| STERLING with a costume maker’s name | Clusters around 1942 to 1947 | Wartime restrictions on base white metal pushed makers into sterling silver for a few years |
The copyright cliff is the sharpest tool in the drawer. In 1955 Trifari won a federal case against a copyist, and the court treated costume jewelry as copyrightable works of art. The industry responded by stamping the copyright symbol into new designs. So a mark with the small circled c cannot be earlier than the mid-1950s, no exceptions, while a signed piece with a patent marking and no copyright symbol almost always sits in the 1930s to early 1950s window where the strongest collector demand lives.
Wartime sterling is the cliff families stumble over most happily. From roughly 1942 to 1947, restrictions on the white base metals costume makers normally used pushed Trifari, Coro, and their peers into sterling silver. A costume brooch marked TRIFARI STERLING is not a contradiction; it is a war date stamped into the metal, and collectors pay attention to it.
The marks worth knowing by name
| Mark | Who and when | What the market pays |
|---|---|---|
| Crown sitting on the T in Trifari | The Alfred Philippe era, 1930s into the 1960s | Crown pins $50 to $150; the best jelly belly animals $200 to $600 |
| Trifari with a copyright symbol, no crown | Later production | $15 to $60 |
| Coro, Coro Duette, Corocraft | Coro’s lines across the century; a Duette splits into two dress clips | Duettes $75 to $125; scarce figurals higher |
| Small horseshoe or oval plaque reading Miriam Haskell | Mostly late 1940s onward; earlier Haskell is unmarked | Bead necklaces $100 to $300; elaborate signed work higher |
| Eisenberg Original | 1930s and 40s, large heavy pieces | $100 to $300, the biggest crystal pieces above |
| Eisenberg Ice | Later production | Well below the Originals |
| Weiss | 1950s rhinestone work | $20 to $100; black japanned and figural butterflies at the top |
| Boucher, often with a number | Marcel Boucher, a Cartier-trained hand | $50 to $250 for good figurals |
| Schiaparelli in script | Elsa Schiaparelli’s costume lines | $150 to $800 |
| Monet, Napier, Sarah Coventry, Avon | Mass-market names, made in enormous quantities | $5 to $50, often sold in lots |
These ranges are deliberately set at the middle of the market rather than the top, because an honest expectation serves a seller better than a headline. The full value picture, including Bakelite and the honest baseline for unsigned pieces, lives in our costume jewelry value guide.
No mark at all? Read the construction
Unmarked does not mean worthless, and on some of the best pieces it means the opposite. Miriam Haskell did not mark most of its work before the late 1940s, so early Haskell is identified by how it is built: beads wired by hand to a pierced brass backplate rather than glued. Glue blobs, molded plastic backs, and stamped one-piece settings point down-market; hand wiring, prong-set stones, and weight point up. Construction is also the defense against the one trap in this category: marks can be faked or transplanted far more easily than workmanship, so a famous name on a cheaply built piece should raise an eyebrow rather than a price.
What not to do with a marked piece
- Do not polish it. Plating is thin, and polishing strips it along with the patina that proves age.
- Do not clean rhinestone pieces with liquid. Water and dips seep behind the stones and dull the foil backs permanently.
- Do not untangle and sort a box into ziplock bags. Sets separated from each other lose the premium of being complete.
- Do not throw away anything unsigned before it is looked at. Early Haskell, wartime sterling with worn marks, and good unsigned work hide in every unsorted box.
What to do with the box
Photograph the front and back of anything with a mark, and one wide shot of the box as it sits. Then have the whole box read by someone who checks every clasp, because the valuable piece in a costume box is nearly always a surprise to the family that owns it. We sort boxes in front of you across Southern California, explain each mark as we find it, and pay cash the same visit. The honest answer for most pieces is modest, and we will say so. When a crown Trifari or a wartime sterling brooch surfaces, you will know what it is before it leaves the table.
Common questions
- What does a copyright symbol on costume jewelry mean?
- The small c in a circle dates the design to the mid-1950s or later, with no exceptions. Trifari won a 1955 federal court case establishing costume jewelry designs as copyrightable art, and the industry switched from design patents to copyright marks. A signed piece with a patent marking and no copyright symbol generally sits in the more valuable 1930s to mid-1950s window.
- Why does my costume jewelry say sterling?
- Probably because of the war. From roughly 1942 to 1947, restrictions on the base white metals pushed makers like Trifari and Coro into sterling silver, so marks like Trifari Sterling are a wartime date stamped into the metal. Collectors treat wartime sterling costume pieces as a category of their own.
- Where do I find the maker’s mark on costume jewelry?
- Check the back of a brooch near the pin stem or catch, the tongue or box of a necklace clasp, the reverse of an earring clip, and any small metal plaque hanging near the clasp. Marks are small and often worn, so tilt the piece under a bright light or zoom in with a phone camera.
- Is unmarked costume jewelry worth anything?
- Sometimes a great deal. Miriam Haskell did not mark most work before the late 1940s, so early Haskell is identified by hand-wired construction rather than a signature. Hand wiring, prong-set stones, and real weight point up-market whether or not a name is present. Have an unsorted box read before anything is donated.
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