Coro Jewelry: A Collector's Guide, Identification & Values

by Marcia Sparkles Brown

Collector Books is pleased to present this first book of its kind, dedicated to one of the giants in the costume jewelry industry. Coro was in business for 79 years, from 1901 to 1980, was once one of the largest manufacturing plants in the world, and was at one time the maker of half of all the jewelry sold in the world. This book is the first devoted to this pace-setting manufacturer. Well-known jewelry expert Marcia 'Sparkles' Brown, author of Unsigned Beauties of Costume Jewelry and two volumes of Signed Costume Jewelry, displays over 600 color photographs with identification and values in Coro Jewelry. Advertisements spanning the years 1943 to 1961 are included, as well as illustrations of the Canadian, English, and American plants and salesrooms. There are chapters devoted to Coro, Corocraft, Vendome, Francois, Mylu, and the company's international connections, including Mexico. Biographies and photographs of important company officers are featured. An additional highlight is a section on Coro's head designer and his limited edition nine brooches released in 2000. The history in the book spans Coro's legal battles, rags to riches stories of company officers, and Coro's influence in the growth of its Providence, Rhode Island, plant location and the entire jewelry industry. You won't want to miss this book. 2005 values.

238 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2004

Reviews

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a new collector of Coro Jewelry I was extremely disappointed in this book. While it calls itself a collector's guide, most of the information and pictures I had already encountered in my Facebook groups, on Pinterest, and in internet searches. The books pictures only a very small amount of the jewelry produced by Coro and is really geared, in my opinion, at the brand new collector who knows almost nothing about Coro, and at the person wanting more detailed information about the company, its founders, and the company's development. My money would have been better spent on jewelry.