Saturday, January 9, 2010

Today's Featured Vintage Designer - Avon

Many of you know of the name Avon for perfumes and other body products, but Avon has also been making jewelry as a part of their line since the early 1970s.

In 1886 a salesman named David McConnell founded a company which he called the California Perfume Company. Initially, the company only had five lines for sale - all perfumes. David was later joined by Mrs. Persis Albee. They were both strong believers in the direct door to door method of marketing their product. P

Mrs Persis became the company's first "traveling sales lady" and soon doorbells across America could be heard along with the recognizable words "Avon Calling." By 1928, their products were being sold with the new name - Avon, but still through the direct marketing method.

The name of the company was officially changed in 1939 to Avon Products, Inc. The following years showed a huge increase in sales, with all products still being beauty product based.

In 1971, Avon began offering jewelry to their customers, and this trend continues through today. Avon jewelry is now sold in a variety of ways, including the internet, but most of their business still comes from direct sales.

The most collectible part of the Avon jewelry line includes designs by several well known designers, such as Kenneth Jay Lane, Elizabeth Taylor, Barrera, Coreen Simpson, Celia Sebiri, etc. These designs are always marked as "name of designer, for Avon."



The Avon jewelry line included a wide range of styles such as watches, earrings, brooches, bracelets and necklaces. They also regularly feature a line of holiday themed jewelry. Some of their numbered Christmas tree pins are very collectible.

The Avon Company mainly uses the word Avon in block letters, sometimes with a copyright symbol and sometimes without. However, in the 1980s and 1990s, with the advent of the new well known designers coming on board with them, they also used the design marks from the noted designers with the addition of the words "For Avon," so it is possible to see several different Avon markings today. Here are some examples of the signatures:


Avon jewelry is readily available and not particularly valuable, but is interesting to those who collect Avon Memorabilia. One should only purchase pieces in excellent condition, in original boxes, if possible. Prices most likely to increase in value are those by the noted designers such as KJL, Elizabeth Taylor, etc.

Here are some Avon designs:



5 comments:

  1. i have that pin with the roses and bow is it worth much

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  2. Hi

    Avon Jewelry does not generally have a high price tag unless it is one of their designer lines, such as Coreen Simpson, Elizabeth Taylor, Kenneth Lane, etc.

    The bow pin is available online for $12-$20, depending on condition.

    Carol

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  3. I have 2 butterfly necklaces signed by C Sebiri.
    Could you help me with the value of these.

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  4. I don't do any appraisals, but a quick look on eBay showed two for sale. One for $139 and one for $295. Completed listings showed one sold for $200.

    It would depend on the style and your selling venue. Google will give you some other results.

    Carol

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  5. I've always loved Avon jewelry and I really appreciate Avon as a company. I love how Avon was empowering women before the turn of the century, really encouraging them to work out of the home. That's not to mention all the charitable works and money the family has donated over the years from their profit. I love your site and I found another site Avon Rings that has a lot of info on Avon and some of their jewelry as well.

    ReplyDelete