Oscar Heyman
72900 - Retro Oscar Heyman Sapphire Diamond Bracelet
Founded in 1912, Oscar Heyman, Inc is still making masterpieces today on Madison Avenue in Manhattan. They make their own machinery and tools, and employ designers, renderers, platinum- and gold-smiths, stone buyers, stone sorters, stone cutters (lapidaries), stone setters, engravers, polishers, researchers and archivists. Innovation, creativity, diligence and skill make Oscar Heyman, Inc one of the greatest jewelry manufacturers in the world.
23339 - Oscar Heyman Sapphire Diamond Butterfly Pin
At the turn of the 20th century, teenage brothers Oscar and Nathan Heyman worked for five years as live-in jeweler’s apprentices at their great-uncle’s Fabergé workshop in Kharkov, Ukraine. After returning home to Latvia, the brothers departed almost immediately for America in hopes of taking part in the economic boom in the New World. Upon arrival in New York, Oscar started working as a jeweler for a small manufacturing firm, and Nathan worked a toolmaker for Western Electric. In 1907 their brother Harry joined them.
71758 - Art Deco Oscar Heyman/Marcus Platinum Diamond Ruby Bracelet
Oscar was soon hired by Cartier, and after a few years building his skills and reputation, Oscar Heyman & Bros, Inc, “The Jeweler’s Jeweler”, was established at 49 Maiden Lane in 1912. They began making pieces for famous retail firms like Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Tiffany, Black, Star & Frost, Neiman Marcus, Shreve, Crump & Low, and many other jewelry houses that were frequented by serious collectors.
23126 - Circa 1949 Oscar Heyman/Bailey, Banks & Biddle Pin Clips
The Heymans excelled at working with platinum, The oxyhydrogen torch made it possible to melt and work with platinum, a skill that was not within the wheelhouse of many jewelers at the time. Platinum was very much in vogue in the 1920s. The use of strong, dense platinum allowed gemstones to be mounted with minimal metal, enabling designs which had previously been impossible to realize. Delicate floral motifs, where the stones are suspended on a “thread” of metal.
51103 - 1950s Oscar Heyman Platinum Diamond Sapphire Earrings
OHB earned seven patents between 1916 and 1942, for jewelry designs and manufacturing processes. They developed a complex procedure for linking bracelet sections together, using a pin inserted through hollow, tube-like extensions, otherwise known as a chenier, which became their singular characteristic.
Chenier
Another patent involved the incorporation of the clasp into the last links of the bracelet, rather than attaching the clasp with solder. This greatly increased the strength of the clasp and eliminated traditional weak points.
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The company had the foresight to establish archives, engraving a reference number in the metal of their jewelry. This would serve to identify it in their records, along with the famous OHB hallmark. |
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Oscar Heyman & Brothers grew and innovated throughout the 1920s and 1930s, culminating in their famous flower brooches, and their “invisibly set” jewelry, in which the pavilions are mounted on a metal track so that the underlying metal cannot be seen, for the top or sides. Stones are tightly and precisely mounted. Lapidary and setter, working in sync, took months to produce a single piece, and this work process is still being done the same way today.
23662 - Circa 1946 Oscar Heyman Platinum Ruby Diamond Circle Pin
In the 1940s, the brothers offered and converted the majority of its factory for the precision manufacture of components for wartime use, such as clocks, watches, aviation instrumentation, and of course jewelry with patriotic or military themes.
In November 1969, Oscar Heyman & Brothers designed and manufactured the legendary Taylor-Burton Diamond (the most famous and important diamond of the day, weighing 69.42 carats) into a necklace for Cartier in one week’s time so that Elizabeth Taylor could wear the piece to Princess Grace of Monaco’s "Scorpio Ball".
In 1972, Oscar Heyman & Brothers gemstone encrusted medallions went to the moon on the Apollo 16 mission.
901349 - Oscar Heyman Circa 1971 Ruby Diamond Ring
“Jewelry should transcend time like a fine painting, never losing its appeal” -Oscar Heyman
72629 - Circa 1992 Oscar Heyman Platinum Diamond Sapphire Bracelet
Sources:
https://www.langantiques.com/university/oscar-heyman-bros/
https://www.mccaskillandcompany.com/designers/designers-oscar-heyman