Eisenberg Jewelry (1930-today)
The company was started in Chicago in 1914 by Austrian émigré Jonas Eisenberg as a high-end clothing company. In the 1930s the company expanded into accessorizing its clothing line with costume jewelry, however, the unexpected success motivated Eisenberg to start a separate division just for jewelry.
Eisenberg’s pieces are considered to be some of the finest costume jewelry made in the 1930s and 1940s. Superior craftsmanship combined with the best materials such as Swarovski crystals and high-end coloured stones distinguished their jewelry from the very beginning.
From 1940 onwards, Eisenberg jewelry was produced by an east coast company called Fallon & Kappel. Ruth Kamke was the lead designer of Eisenberg from 1940 until 1972.
The early pieces of Eisenberg jewelry were not marked at all. Jewelry made between 1935 and 1945 was marked ‘Eisenberg Original’, in the late 1940s they were marked ‘E’, and from 1949-1958 jewelry was marked as ‘Eisenberg Ice’. From 1958 to 1970, only paper hang tags were used for most Eisenberg jewelry.
