MONET Charms: 1928 – Present (Owned by Liz Claiborne Since 2000)
Monet began as the Monocraft Products Company of Providence, RI in 1928. It was founded by two brothers, Michael and Jay Chernow. They originally started by making gold plated monograms on handbags and moved on to manufacturing jewelry under the name of Monet in 1937, quite an accomplishment at the height of the Depression. They made attractive affordable costume jewelry with gold plating over base or pot metal. They expanded to silver plating and by the 1940’s, the company had started using sterling silver, although to this day they are best known for their costume lines.
The Monocraft Products Company, parent company of the Monet line was acquired by General Mills in 1968, then bought by Crystal Brands Jewelry Group in 1989, taken over by Chase Capital Partners, Lattice Holding in 1994, and in 2000 was purchased by Liz Claiborne Inc. when production of the jewelry was moved out of the U.S.
Vintage and costume jewelry collectors, especially vintage charm collectors have rediscovered the fantastic moving and mechanical charms of the 50’s and 60’s that Monet did so well. Big, gaudy, fun and flashy these charms were the Juicy Couture of their day, you could have one or a dozen on a bracelet, necklace or purse.
Hallmarks include: “MONET” and “MONET with copyright symbol” which was introduced after 1955.
Compare the Juicy Couture of today in the Jet Set Bracelet to the Monet of yesteryear, still available on ebay Well that particular auction may have ended but I’ll find us another one.
Here’s A Monet Teddy Bear vintage charm
I’ve rather fallen in love with Monet’s, and I was around in the 1960’s but never had them. With age comes collecting I suppose?
