Christian Dior
A Golden Era Costume Jewelry Designer Creates the House of Dior
Christian Dior is another awesomely impressive self taught designer that became an icon.
Christian Dior is another awesomely impressive designer that had no real formal training in the area of design and came into this profession later in his life. He majored in political science in college and briefly had a career in the French military after finishing school.
His design career started with an apprenticeship with the respected French designer, Robert Piguet. Dior eventually requested and received financing from wealthy businessman, Marcel Broussac that led to the formation of the House of Dior. The first design line presented to the fashion industry by the House of Dior was known as the 'New Look Collection' - an opulent collection of clothing whose clean design lines remained popular for the next 25 years.
Bolstered by this success the House of Dior then branched out into designing extravagant, gorgeous costume jewelry for such movie star icons as Betty Davis and Lucille Ball and that eternal symbol of haute couture fashion - the late Jacqueline Kennedy. In order to constantly create fresh jewelry looks to coordinate with his clothing designs the House of Dior hired many different jewelry artists such as Henry Schreiner and later, after Dior's death at age 52 in 1957 - Yves Saint Laurent.
The House of Dior was the first to use 'aurora borealis' rhinestones in their costume jewelry. The aurora borealis is a naturally occurring weather phenomenon and the rhinestones are treated to reflect those flashes of color. In a way the play of color and light is very similar to that found in opals.
Many people equate rhinestones to paste artificial stones- they are not. A true rhinestone is made from rock crystal - not paste or glass. While rock crystal is a very inexpensive gemstone, it is a gemstone none the less.
Vintage Dior costume jewelry fetches prices in the thousands and is a highly regarded jewelry find. Contemporaneously, the jewelry line of the House of Dior is now marketed as "haute couture' jewelry in the Dior Joaillerie department. This jewelry is expensive, fine jewelry using 14K gold and precious gemstones such as rubies and sapphires.
However, if you are looking for a more reasonably priced piece of Dior jewelry check out the ladies Dior watch available through Amazon. It has a black face stamped with the Dior trademark, silver tone detailing and a black leather strap. Amazon also has a limited selection of other ladies and some men's Dior watches.
If you are interested in finding out more about costume jewelry read the review of Judith Miller's book Costume Jewelry Graham Rae's gorgeous costume jewelry photography is showcased in this book by DK Publishing.
 |
 |
 |
 |
