Brief Weiss History
Weiss Jewelry, founded
by Albert Weiss, was not as big a company as some of the other jewelry retailers, but like them, Weiss Jewelry *sold different lines for different pocket-books.
They sold some very high end and beautiful jewelry and accessories, paying
great attention to detail.
Albert Weiss, a native New Yorker, started his
company in 1942, on Fifth Avenue in N.Y., after having worked for Coro and Marvella Jewelry.
Mr. Weiss worked primarily in clear and colored rhinestones and was very well known
for his creations of butterflies, bugs and flowers.
The first mark used was "WEISS" in block letters, then "Weiss" in script.
Also "Albert Weiss" and A W Co.
This last mark was started sometime in 1951.
You can put you cursor over the marks at the left to see more.
Albert Weiss
was president of his company and retired in 1969.
One of Albert's sons, Michael, continued the business for a short time but finally Weiss Jewelry closed
it's doors in 1971.
Weiss jewelry, compared to
other companies of the times, was in business for a relatively short period of time. This means there is less Weiss jewelry to collect and it is a little harder to find.
Albert
Weiss has left us some wonderful collectible treasures!
*It is a common misconception that these various
jewelry companies, like Weiss, made their jewelry; not always true: Some did, some didn't. Like the clothing industry,
most retail jewelry companies shopped at the various manufacturer's showrooms, picked out their lines for the seasons,
and had their own paper labels/hang tags or imprinted stamped marks put on the jewelry they wished to sell under their
brand name.
These jewelry companies would also often have their own in-house designers and have the
manufacturers make up their designer’s creations.
Hang tags, brand marked boxes, or attached
paper tags were often tossed out or lost when jewelry was purchased, leaving many of us wondering about those unmarked pieces
of jewelry: To whom should we attribute them? That's a whole other discussion.
