Magento Commerce

Who is Weiss?

Dates of Operation - 1942-1971

Design Characteristics - Lots of use of Rhinestones, particularly smoky rhinestones called "Black Diamonds." Use of inverted stones. Highly collectible Christmas tree pin line. Long stemmed enamel flowers with great detail. Pave icing meant to imitate Eisenberg designs.

Albert Weiss gained much experience working as an apprentice for the Corocraft Company during the 1930s. He honed his skills there and had a very fine eye for detail. He opened his own jewelry business in 1942 and his factory was dedicated to the manufacture of hand set pieces only.

Weiss realized the importance of quality stones and got many of his supplies from Austria, since these stones had a higher lead content and gave his pieces a particularly dazzling appeal. His company was small but grew steadily so that in the 1950s and 1960s he had to contract work out to be manufactured by Hollycraft, in order to keep up with the demand.

During this period he introduced a smoky rhinestone often called the "black diamond" and started a trend featuring this look. Many other companies copied this idea and this period teemed with them in high quality designs. Building on his popularity of this design, he introduced a line of Christmas tree pins which were made in Germany, but which carried the Weiss logo. They became best sellers and were copied then and are still being copied today.

Albert's son Michael continued the family business when Weiss retired and the popularity of the company continued for several years. The company closed its doors in 1971, and with their demise, it also closed the doors on three decades of fantastic jewelry production.

Value of the pieces today - Very collectible.

Weiss pieces are all very collectible today. It is still possible to get reasonably priced items, but that depends on the demand and how lucky one is in their search. The "black diamond pieces", Inverted Rhinestones pieces and Christmas tree designs are the most valued. Condition is all important, as usual, but even Weiss pieces in not so great condition have value over other designers.

Design Marks - The marks of the Weiss company changed very little over the three decades of production.

In addition to the marks shown below, they also used Albert Weiss and Weiss in script in 1951.

I do not have photos of the Albert Weiss or Weiss script marks. If you would like to share yours, please email me, and I'll give you credit on this page.

To view other articles on the designers, please visit the designer of the week archives.

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