Look Book

Design for bracelet exhibited at the 1939 World's Fair. History and Heritage The hands-on documentation of the company's history was a multi-year task completed by Yvonne Markowitz, co-author Elizabeth Hamilton, and another researcher in California. Years were spent pouring over old magazines at libraries and at the Oscar Heyman offi ce in New York City, where nearly intact archives dated back to the fi rm's beginning. The story starts with Fabergé-trained founding brothers Oscar and Nathan Heyman emigrating from Russia in 1906. They brought with them pro- fi ciencies in platinum fabrication and tool making, all skills that were in demand by Manhattan jew- elers. To wit, business stateside mushroomed. A fl eeting partnership with another jeweler convinced the Oscar Heyman family to debut their own fi rm, and clientele lined up with commissions. Among them: Black, Starr & Frost during WWI with a request for a fl ag pin in gold, diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. The piece was "meant to be auctioned off to raise money in support of servicemen," states Chapter 1. For sure, outsourcing between World War I and the Great Depression became prevalent among high-profi le brands like Tiffany & Co., offering ample opportunity for the brand to thrive. "Oscar Heyman supplied jewelry at different points to probably every important jewelry house in the U.S. and kept their name in the background," explains Markowitz. Hamilton, meanwhile, uncovered myriad hidden gems. Some of the discoveries, including images and records of pieces made for other jewelers for the 1939 World's Fair, surprised even Tom Heyman himself. "I knew we made items for the display of Marcus & Co., but I didn't realize we also con- tributed signifi cantly to at least two other jewelry fi rms' displays," he reveals. More fi nds included letters to manufacturers about war efforts that were dated a week after Pearl Harbor, and some Hollywood connections (Lana Turner wore Oscar Heyman jewelry for the 1959 fi lm Imitation of Life). Hamilton also found the original sketch of the American Art-Deco-cum-Edwardian-style cover brooch in a dark storage closet. It was a Thursday afternoon in October 2012 when she emerged with the working sketch that was glued on parchment paper into a notebook. "There were tons of treasures in the space," she recollects. O S C A R H E Y M A N D E S I G N E R U P C C L O S E

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