Tomorrow's Heirlooms @ Cliptomania.com

Tomorrow's Heirlooms @ Cliptomania.com

Katherine's Tiger's Eye Clip on Drop Earrings

Cattails Non-pierced Drop Earrings

Chipita Non-pierced Earrings #621

Fleur De Lis & Pearl Clip on Drop Earrings

Chipita Clip On Earrings #230

Cubist Guitar Clip On Earrings

Paisley Crystal Drop Clip-on Earrings

Michal Golan's Icy Dream Clip-on Drop Earrings

Tourmaline Clip on Hoops

Golden AOI Leaf Non-pierced Earrings

Patina Button Clip On Dangle Earrings

Teardrop Sea Glass & Pearls Clip on Earrings

David Howell & Company

Minton X & O Non-pierced Drop Earrings

Since David Howell, founder of the New York company which bears his name, was a boy he had a great desire to make things.  He would take apart various household items, alarm clocks, toys, and even a car to understand how all of them were made and how the parts worked individually and together.  David would then put these items back together as if he had never touched them in the first place.  This taught him that he couldn’t make everything himself.  Ultimately David learned it takes collaboration and other creative voices to design and produce great items, something he believes in to this day.

David’s initial inspiration most often comes from a place he or someone he knows has visited.  If the latter, and permission is needed, like he received for the CMA Music Festival in 2013, he will acquire it then take a camera and start exploring, snapping pictures, asking questions and making drawings.

His design influences not only come from places, but also history. David has created book marks of past presidents like Eisenhower and other historical figures like Ben Franklin.  He has made earrings influenced by architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and sculptures like the Thinker by Rodin.  Other influences include nature, faith, ancient cultures, literature and more. His designs are put on bookmarks, pendants, business card cases, letter openers, pins, earrings and more.  Worth noting also is that everything his company makes is made in the United States under environmentally friendly standards; an issue that is playing a major role in changing many business practices worldwide.

Click here to see other David Howell & Co. Non-pierced Earrings

 

Mahony Window Clip On Earrings

Cliptomania.com began purchasing from David Howell and Company early in 2007.  We used pre-made clip tops, ordered from another vendor, to turn his pierced earrings into clip-on earrings.  Three years later, thanks to the buyer from the Carnegie Museum of Art telling David that many of his designs were well suited for clip tops, he agreed. Cliptomania no longer had to discard the pierced tops.  Co-owner of Cliptomania, Candy Santo, is grateful for the change as she has said, “It wounded my Scottish soul to waste perfectly good fishhooks.”  Since then a majority of David’s earrings on the open market can be purchased as pierced or clip. His clip tops are simple clips that are round and flat faced and allow the design to hang below.

Some of David Howell and Company’s clip-on earrings are featured in our Tomorrow’s Heirloom section in a subcategory under his name. More of his designed earrings are on order and include themes like Diamond Wave Non-pierced Drop Earrings, Punk Works Clip On Dangle Earrings, Acanthus Clip On Dangle Earrings and numerous others.

Designer Paul Flato's Lasting Influence on Art Deco Jewelry

Hand & Glove Clip on Earrings designed by Paul Flato from hancocks-london.com

Art Deco, as a style, came to be in 1925 when the World’s Fair was held in France.  Both the name of the fair and its exhibits would contribute to the style’s name.  The 1925 World’s Fair was known as “Exposition International des Arts De’coratifs et Industriels Modernes.”  (It translates to International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts.)

Its designs influenced new styles of automobiles, homes, skyscrapers, clothing and jewelry.  Geometric shapes such as circles, triangles, squares and rectangles were often arranged or woven together to create intricate designs. 

There were numerous pioneers in Europe like Lalique, Bucheron and Coco Chanel but there were also a fair number of Art Deco pioneers in America like Tiffany, Winston, Marcus & Co, and the subject of this post Paul Flato. 

Paul Flato was a New York transplant from Flatonia, Texas.  His first exposure to jewelry was by accident.  Flato was walking in the Texas woods and he came upon a gypsy camp where he saw women wearing necklaces and dangling earrings.  Since that moment Flato was determined to become a jeweler and he succeeded.  From the 1920s to the early 1940s he was the elite jeweler to numerous Hollywood stars like Joan Crawford and Rita Haworth who purchased or wore his jewelry on the big screen.  His style was as one person wrote “flamboyant and witty designs” in the Art Deco style.  Flato’s most famous pieces included diamond, gold ribbon &  flower brooches , gold double long horn bracelets, and hand and glove clip earrings to name just a small number of his design pieces. 

diamond, gold ribbon & flower brooch designed by Paul Flato form idexonline.com

His career was strong and reached unbelievable heights, until 1943 when it all came crashing down.  A series of unfortunate business transactions caused Flato to sell $100,000 of jewelry entrusted to him by clients and colleagues in a desperate attempt to save his jewelry business.  He was found out by authorities and sentenced to 16 months in Sing Sing Petitionary.  In 1945 he was released and moved to Mexico and lived there until 1953.  When Flato left he was constantly on the run from US authorities for larceny and forgery.  Eventually he went back to Mexico and settled in Zona Rosa where he resumed his jewelry career in anonymity.  Flato’s last years were lived back in Texas from 1990 to 1999 when he died at age 98.   Despite his troubles Flato has remained and is remembered as a fixture in the jewelry world.  Any pieces that are found are still popular with famous auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s.

Art Deco style clip on earrings designed by Katherine Kornblau

At cliptomania.com we sell clip on earrings by designer Katherine Kornblau who has used Art Deco design in some of her jewelry as well as influences from Zoological, Ancient Egyptian, and Contemporary design in other collections.  Other designers found on cliptomania.com who were also influenced by the Art Deco period are Sadie Green and David Howell.