Kramer Jewellery Firm

 Kramer Intrictate Glass, Rhinestone and Enamel Jewellery

Kramer Jewellery Creations was founded in New York in the middle of World War 2 and produced artistic and intricate pieces of jewellery out of gilt metal, glass, rhinestones, and enamel. Louis Kramer, who began the company in 1943, was later joined by his brothers,Harry and Morris, as he made the most of the growing  market for costume jewellery. All aspects of the business were based in New York, so the jewellery pieces  were signed  “Kramer,” “Kramer N.Y.,” or “Kramer of New York.”

With the aid of his brothers, Louis Kramer was in charge of the production of his jewellery line, and was very involved when it came to the design and quality of the final product. In fact, Kramer designed many of his firms most exuberant parures and pieces, Kramer appeared  to favour flowers, particularly organic-looking floral designs made with gilt petals and leaves or coloured enamel. Some of these flower brooches had sparklng rhinestones set in “trembling” centers. He also made items dripping with crystal rhinestones in strong colors like red, blue, and topaz, as well as animal figures and geometric patterns.

When Christian Dior  introduced his feminine exaggerated, “New Look” in 1947, the fashion designer did not distance himself from showy, romantic costume-jewellery using large amounts of fake gemstones, including Swarovski crystals. Throughout the 1950's and 1960s, Kramer  produce some stunning costume jewellery for Christian Dior—those jewellery pieces are marked "Christian Dior by Kramer," “Dior by Kramer,” or “Kramer for Dior.” and are amongst some of the most collectible vintage Dior jewellery today.

Kramer's beautifully ornate Dior pieces, with their sparkling Swarovski aurora borealis, baroque faux pearls, and  petal shaped pastes built upon the firm's obsession with craftsmanship and organic, romantic type design, achieving a high level of sophistication and elegance in the process. However the collaboration with Dior, although beneficial was not enough to keep Kramer from closing its doors in the 1970's. Today, Kramer vintage jewellery including complete parure sets ( including a vintage necklace, vintage  earrings and a vintage brooch) particularly those made for Dior, are considered some of the most collectible of  Kramer jewellery.

For some beautiful examples of vintage Dior jewellery have a look at our  Christian Dior Jewellery Collection page