Vintage Duette Clip Mechanisms
Friday, November 13, 2009 at 2:13PM The Art Deco age ushered in a new idea for jewelry makers. The 1920s showed the use of Fur Clips and Dress clips and in the 1930s jewelry makers started to think about how they could make their jewels multi functional and convertible. The clip pin was born. The Duette, Clip Mates, and other clip pin variations were made by many companies. These take two or more dress clips or fur clips and mount them into a special frame which creates a very large brooch. I have taken some time to view our previously sold inventory and have come up with this assortment of interesting clip mechanisms we have had in the past.
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Most of what we tend to find in estates are Coro duettes. The most famous and most popular Coro duettes which have come through our hands are the Verrecchio
birds & the quivering Camilla.
The Verrecchio birds are two fur clips set in a brooch.
Patent 1798867 - Design Patent D126490. April 8,
1941
This piece is in Brunialti's American Costume Jewelry on Page
57-58. In Schiffer's Fun Jewelry Pg 142.
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The Quivering Camilla was also designed by Gene Verrecchio. This design was patented by Coro in 1938 patent 17988687 Just stunning. Two matching dress clips with trembler flowers which can be assembled on a frame and worn as a brooch.
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Coro also used the trembler flower and clip brooch concept in other less elaborate sets:
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You can see this smaller brooch has the same construction as the larger brooch.
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Here is another example of one of Coro's later smaller designs:
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These more well known and more popular duettes from Coro were preceded by some wonderful geometric Art Deco designs which inspired the idea in the first place.
Coro, and other companies churned out thousands of variations on the Art Deco clip pin. Many came up with unique patented clip designs to compete with those of Coro and Trifari.
Here are a few of Coro's Art Deco era designs:
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This early deigns sports a 1931 design patent.
Coro Duette Patent - 1798867
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This set is beautiful - Signed Coro Duette with Patent Number 1798867 and
1852188.
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Many companies made similar Art Deco clip pins with ingenious mechanisms.
Ralph Polcini was a goldsmith Italy who founded the Polcini Company in 1911. Which became LEDO - Leading Jewellery Manufacturing Company in 1949. This Ledo pin we think dates to 1936.
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We have also found these really interesting unsigned examples, they have patent numbers and can probably be attributed, the research was done long ago, I have copied what we said at the time.
This item has two patent numbers 2066969 and 2653834 or maybe 2053834.. The first was issued in 1935 to E Farnham of Providence RI , the second I cannot find, I must not be reading it correctly. There must have been dress clip parts which attached to these to make them two dress clips. We only have the brooch backing now, note the pin back was damaged at one time, and is
interestingly attached now (but working)
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This piece has patent number 2161668 & 1945268. John Fielding North Providence.
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Some of the most unusual clip setups I could fine are on totally unsigned and unmarked pieces:
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This is one of my favorite duettes, is a Coro set in the latest Brunialti book. It unforutnaley does not have the frame. If anyone thinks they have it, please let us know, we do plan to auction it in the near future and would love to be able to sell it as a complete set.
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Be sure and check our vintage stores for vintage costume jewelry:
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