CoudreMODE » Accessories

Benedikt NY Jewelry – Part I

coudremode — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:00:14 +0000

Over 20 years ago I bought a Maltese cross brooch at the (late, great) Filene’s Basement store in Boston. It became a favorite and I wore it constantly and then one of the cabochons fell out and I was so crushed. One day on a whim I googled “Maltese cross” to see if something similar was available much to my surprise saw several images of a virtually identical brooch listed that was signed “Benedikt NY”! After some additional sleuthing it seems that Howard Benedikt made high-end costume jewelry from 1955 to 1973. His store was located at 389 5th Avenue in New York City and that is all I can find out about him. His pieces are considered collectible and are certainly as well made as vintage Hattie Carnegie pieces but are much less pricey. The brooch I bought in the 80’s was clearly a Benedikt knock-off and from time to time I see his designs copied by today’s high end costume jewelery brands such as Kenneth Jay Lane. I have three of these brooches, a white/grey crystal, a blue crystal and a topaz cabachon.

Benedikt jewelry is always marked “Benedikt N.Y. (c)” and one of his most elaborate pieces is the Maltese cross. It was most commonly made in red, blue or green with both a faceted crystal center or round cabochon center. Blue and green with crystal centers are by far the most common. I’ve seen red and green cabochon centers but the blue only once in my research and it turned up on Ebay in 2007. The center cabochons are colored glass and the oval cabs on the arms on the red and blue examples are colored glass or occasionally opaque pink glass or blue faux lapis (that’s what my blue one has.) This heavy brooch is 2 inches square and weighs one ounce. It’s constructed from three pieces of cast metal held together with a pin under the center stone/cabochon.

Benedikt Maltese cross brooches within each colorway are by no means identical. Sometimes the stones on the arms of the cross match the rest of the colors as in the green crystal example below. My personal preference is for clear crystals but I did make an exception when I bought the white cab cross; I think the subtle grey of the stones is actually really nice. The color of the metal is most often bright gold, only the topaz version seems to have that bronze finish.

Other variations that are rare but do come up include these, see the photos below:

White cabs with black stones on the arms and a black crystal center. There was a bidding war on Ebay for that one!
Turquoise cabs with amethyst stones. This stunner has been on Ruby Lane for a while and is by far the most expensive and unusual I’ve seen.
The red and green cab version was on Ebay in 2008 and I have not seen it again myself.

In addition to a pin back each piece has a hook at the top which allows the brooch to be worn as an enhancer to a necklace and this looks pretty fabulous! The opening is very small though so a bail is needed to attach it. In the photo I pinned the brooch to my dress form because the hook won’t fit over my 4mm Mikimoto pearl necklace. I’ve been looking for a 14k gold bail that works with the style of the brooch.

If you love this brooch and want one here is what l’ve learned in the two years I’ve been collecting Benedikt NY jewelry:

Condition: generally very good to excellent. These must have been expensive pieces of costume jewelery when they were new. I also think they may have been available ready-made and made-to-order, the latter might explain why there are so many interesting variations.
Most examples will not have stones in the tiny prongs circling the center cab/crystal. My white one has them but the other two don’t. I think they were made this way.
Condition issues to look for:

The stones surrounding the arms are occasionally missing so carefully scrutinize photos.
The baguette stones on the points are fogged about 50% of the time (visible on my blue one but the baguettes on the white one are clearer)
Sometimes the pin holding the three parts together has some play in it. This can be fine if it’s minor but if there is a lot of looseness the cabs may fall out because the middle layer holds them down in their prong setting. See the side view for info on how the components fit together.
The fleur-de-lis above the arm cabs should be straight. Notice on my blue brooch, on the left arm, one of them is bent. I also think that happened when it was made.

Prices: starting bids are $14.99 to $49.99 with the winning bid average in the $30 – $60 range on Ebay auctions depending on the time of year. On sites like Rubylane the prices are higher, in the $60 – $80 range. Rubylane is a antique dealer site and has the highest price I’ve seen so far which is for the $188 purple turquoise piece.
Availability: Still pretty good, Benedikt Maltese crosses come up maybe 10 – 12 times a year on Ebay.

I have other Benedikt NY pieces as well and I’ll do another blog post about those.

Soon To Be A Download

coudremode — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 18:00:33 +0000

As soon as I can figure out how to do that in WordPress! The pattern will be only $.99 and this headwrap makes a nice gift, especially when dressed up with a monogram. The next time my daughters have a sleepover birthday party I think we’ll do some as party favors.

This headwrap is a few years old; it has been washed and used many many times so it looks a bit longer in the flat photo compared to the pattern. This is the type of project that can be whipped up in a hour or less and it can be made on a serger or a regular machine. It’s been a bit of a challenge to get it printed out in the same scale as the original so I need to fiddle with that a bit more before I make it a download.

RTW Dress Rx

coudremode — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 18:20:22 +0000

This Kenar dress is a few years old and I wear it quite a bit, its the type of dress than can be dressed up or down with different belts, boots, shoes etc. Hot Patterns Urbanista Coat Dress is very similar. One thing that has always annoyed me though is the belt that came with it can’t be tied in a classic trench coat square knot. The buckle doesn’t have a prong either so it doesn’t really stay snug when I wear it like a regular belt. So I decided to take the belt apart and use some lining fabric as a new backing. Here are the two pieces taken apart. The two pieces were stitched together a center back and the new strip was more than long enough for a new belt. One end of the strip was resquared and the other was re-trued into a point and a new lining attached.

25 Cent Handbag

coudremode — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 19:11:21 +0000

For real – this handbag cost me $.25 and I love it! I ‘ve been looking for a basket handbag for the summer and just haven’t seen one that I like until this beauty. I found it at a yard sale. The girls are at dance all day on Saturday and the weather today was glorious so John and I hiked to the top of Great Blue Hill. At the entrance to Blue Hill Reservation is the Trailside Museum, which has a wonderful, and free, zoo of native animals that is always a big hit with families. This weekend they’re having a yard sale to raise money and I spotted a sign that said “Baskets 25¢” and how could I go wrong? We came home with three; one tall deep one perfect for harvesting in the garden and weeding, another one for collecting eggs and this handbag. Excuse the styling, although I did at least change out of my hiking boots and into flip flops for some fashion verisimilitude.

Instant Accessory

coudremode — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 16:24:21 +0000

For our anniversary we took our daughters out for sushi and I wore my Fluevog Baroque Vermeer boots. Short boots sometimes need a transition, especially when paired with patterned tights. I found an old knit turtle neck that shrunk so badly I don’t wear anymore and off came the sleeves to make slouchy “legwarmers”. A quick run through my coverstitch machine added a hem; we were heading out the door and I was too lazy to change the thread color! I can hide that when I scrunch them down my calf. If you don’t have any old tops lying around just use the sleeves from a favorite knit pattern and remnants. Think of all the crazy legwarmers you could make! Sweater knits would look great as well. This is why I love sewing – you can just make stuff on the fly.

Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright

coudremode — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 12:05:46 +0000

A few weeks ago a comment was left on a post about my 1928 Willcox & Gibbs industrial. Helen Howes, who is a textile artist in the UK, has one very similar to mine and and she asked for a threading diagram. It’s good to know there is is at least one more early 20th century W&G industrial out there still out there! Helen has a fascinating website and her art quilts are very beautiful. She also teaches, sells patterns and kits and sells old machine parts. One idea I really like is her Tiger quilt. This piece was created to showcase a new edition of fat quarters. The squares are cut, layered in pairs, randomly cut again and reassembled into whatever looks pleasing. Another great thing about the Tiger quilt is there are no wasted cuts of fabric because the extra pieces are used for the binding. The spontaneous nature of the piecing is very appealing. Here’s a link to a PDF of the instructions. I think the last quilt I made was for my daughter’s American Girl dolls so I’m definitely planning to make one of these, maybe a small one as sewing room decor.

Gathered Scarf Drape: A Tutorial

coudremode — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 21:54:30 +0000

Elizabeth asked me to do a tutorial on tying a gathered scarf drape and I’m thrilled she asked because it’s my favorite. I also have rarely (ever?) seen this one on the web. I can’t recall where I learned it;. must have been years ago when I bought a silk scarf and maybe it was on the tag. Who knows, anyway its wicked easy:

Step 1

Turn the scarf to the wrong side and pinch it smack in the middle. This design has a motif right in the center so that’s easy.

Step 2

Pinch together the folds about 4 inches from the center point. Here I have used a hair elastic (of which there are hundreds in our house because I have two daughters. This poly fabric is bulky and I can’t knot it. If your scarf is real silk you should be able to just tie a knot.

Step 3

Flip the scarf to the right side and grab two opposite corners. The knot should be in the center of the V. Look at the gathers and move the knot or hair elastic up or down until you get a pattern you like. You also don’t need a dress form, this is just to illustrate!

Step 4

Tie the scarf behind your neck with a simple overhand knot. Adjust the folds to your liking.

Viola!

A Quick One

coudremode — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 20:42:32 +0000

This weekend was one of those where a million little things eat up the whole day, such as a homework project that involved making a movie for health class, of all things. Why can’t these kids write a paper? I guess watching a movie is easier to grade, God forbid the teacher should take the time to correct a paper So naturally getting the thing onto a DVD took up a couple of hours, and this had to be accomplished while John and I were canning veggies (end of summer gardening bounty) and he was getting ready for a business trip. But I did squeeze in one small project. Over on Gorgeous Fabrics, Ann has a terrific faux Hermes scarf print panel, so I bought two of them and hemmed each as scarves. The fabric is polyester and while I did make a pathetic attempt at a hand rolled hem truthfully a narrow machine rolled hem looks better because the poly yarns are bulkier than the equivalent would be in genuine silk. I love the colors and motifs so I’m not gonna feel downmarket that its synthetic and not real silk. Most of these scarf tie ideas should look familiar. If you would like me to do a tutorial any of them just let me know, I can make that another blog post. I may save the second scarf to give as a gift or use it as a bag lining.

Simple drape. good for t-shirts

Kerchief style

Gathered drape, good for coats

Ascot Style, good for open shirts

Square Knot, with motif on the knot

Turtleneck, good for close necklines

The Reveal

coudremode — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 12:09:02 +0000

Good looking boots eh?

Click!

I love cowboy boots and years ago I had several pairs and wore them into the ground, although I did keep a single pair of black Tony Lama’s that were part of my standard going-out wardrobe back in the days when I worked in the music business. These boots have been to many many many concerts (in f act,they’ve seen most of the bands on this list) and I

Click!

have a nostalgic attachment to them. But being young at the time see I also beat on them to a point that made them unwearable. Over the years I’ve wanted to have them repaired, but cowboy boots have their own unique construction, and Boston is not really a town that has specialty cobblers trained in western boot repair. I could have shipped them back to the factory, but I just never got around to it. I could have thrown them out, but these are 100% leather and were made in the US. They weren’t expensive boots at the time, but a 100% leather western boot today is far more expensive than what I paid for these at the time.

Click!

This summer I was going through my closet, and as I looked at them again in their sad state I thought “Hey – I bet I can find cowboy boot repair on the internet!” A quick Google brings up Nushoe, a company in San Diego that repairs many different brands and types of shoes, everything from Birkenstocks to high heeled pumps to military combat boots. In fact, Nushoe’s repairs are authorized by the Defense Department and the Marine Corp’s Infantry Combat Equipment division at Quantico. If you know a solider you also know a good a day for them starts with happy feet. For western boots Nushoe has a comprehensive program to rebuild the entire base of the boot. Their program includes new welt stitching and replacement f of full leather heels.

Click!

Shipping my boots to Nushoe could not have been easier. All I had to do was download the shipping package, which includes a prepaid mailing label , order forms and instructions. After they received my boots I got an email noting that I was in their system, and their web site has an on-line order status function that allows you to track the progress of your order. The day they shipped I got another email and my boots arrived back home about three weeks after I shipped them.

Needless to say I’m pretty happy with Nushoe and my vintage Joan & David boots are next on my list for repair. They rebuild all types of shoes: pumps, sandals, police boots, hunting boots, you name it. Shoe repair is craft that is rapidly disappearing unless you live in a major city and I highly recommend Nushoe. Send in those Christian Loboutin’s!

Unique Soles for Unique Souls

coudremode — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:59:32 +0000

The weather this weekend has been glorious and yesterday I took a long-overdue trip into B0ston for a stroll down Newbury St. In the 80′s I had great apartment on the corner of Newbury and Dartmouth so I was feeling nostalgic for the old neighborhood. Shopping was on the agenda and now I’m the happy owner of two pairs of John Fluevog shoes! Fluevog is on the funky end of the style spectrum, certainly not to everyone’s taste that’s for sure, but I love his work. He is actually a rea l person and according the sweet 20-something in the store he has a foundation that gives arts grants to his employees, she’s in a band and was the recipient of such a grant. These are Mollie Johnson Bellevues, and I know some of you are thinking…they look like granny shoes. Well, I think there is more to shoe life than stilettos and pumps in my opinion and since yesterday I’ve been having fun doing fall wardrobe planning around these beauties. Velvet ribbon, silk satin ribbon and maybe even polka dots and striped ribbon is in the plan.

The Original Shoe Laces

Petersham Ribbon From My Stash

2 Inch Black Lace Also From My Stash

Most Vog’s come in several colors and he makes both men’s and women’s styles. And if you think every Vog style is merely funky-crazy, check out these over-the-knee boots called “Gaga”