How to Make Fashion Jewelry

By PAMELA G. HOLLIEDEC. 24, 1984 This is a digitized version of an article from The Times's print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems. Please send reports of such problems to . Flip through the pages of any fashion magazine. The slinky dresses, the androgynous men's coats and jackets, the simplest and the most elaborate designs are all shown off with large, dramatic jewelry, pounds and pounds of it.This is not junk, not with price tags into the hundreds of dollars. This is high-quality costume jewelry known as fashion jewelry. Some call it paste when it is an expensive copy, or faux jewels when the jewelry is obviously fake.The quality and price of these jeweled impostors puts them in a class as far from fake gold bangles as crystal is from cut glass. Faux jewels are stylish baubles such as those in the new ''Dynasty'' collection. That collection, inspired by the wealthy and beautiful Krystle Carrington on the ''Dynasty'' television series, includes a $390 crystal pave collar and matching bracelet for $190.''Fashion jewelry has come into its own during the last three years,'' said Shari Hymowitz, a spokesman for Trifari, the costume jewelry subsidiary of Hallmark Cards Inc. ''It has become an important part of the business.''AdvertisementBoasting Healthier MarginsThe importance has grown in part because fashion jewelry boasts higher price tags and healthier margins than other segments of the costume jewelry market. While an average pair of costume jewelry earrings may cost between $5 and $25, fashion jewelry earrings may range from $50 to $150.AdvertisementThere are no estimates of the size of the fashion jewelry niche in the market. But the $800 million costume jewelry industry owes its health this year to the popularity of flashy brooches, shoe clips, lapel pins, earrings, necklaces and hat pins.''The general market has been on the upswing for the last 18 months, but fashion jewelry sales in some places are up 150 percent since this fall,'' said Jane Evans, president of Monet Jewelers, a division of General Mills. Monet, the nation's largest costume jewelry maker, has a 35 percent share of department and specialty store fashion jewelry sales and an estimated $100 million in annual sales.As designers feature more fashion jewelry with their creations, jewelry makers are being encouraged to mass-produce more expensive designs. The result has been a surge in fashion jewelry sales.Daring to Be NoticedFashion jewelry has expanded from about 5 percent of the costume jewelry market to 17 percent, Miss Evans said. ''These are women who dare to be noticed,'' she said of the new customers.Another important element in the business is the high visibility of fashion jewelry. Even women who are considered among the most stylish acknowledge they wear fashionable fakes.''Wealthy women seldom wear real jewelry any more,'' said Kenneth Jay Lane, a New York costume jewelry designer who sells $2,000 worth of faux jewels a day from his 135- square-foot store at Trump Tower in Manhattan.Mr. Lane designs copies of real jewels, but makes some outlandish originals as well. He designed a $250 necklace of black beads with a white spotted leopard clasp that was worn by Nancy Reagan.Advertisement''She wore it with a Bill Blass,'' he said. ''And at the party another woman had the same necklace. I made many of them in all colors.''Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box.Invalid email address. Please re-enter.You must select a newsletter to subscribe to.View all New York Times newsletters.Low-Cost LuxuryThe point of faux jewels is luxury at lower cost. Mr. Lane, who has been designing copies for 22 years, believes that many women want to own pieces like those of women they admire. Among his famous copies is a $250 line-for-line copy of a ruby, emerald and sapphire necklace belonging to Jacqueline Onassis.Fake jewels are not new. Wealthy women have long had copies of their jewels made to thwart thieves. What is new about the fake jewelry is that middle-class women, particularly those who once wore only authentic jewelry, are now happily wearing fakes.''The better-educated consumer no longer looks at fashion jewelry as a replacement for real jewelry she can't afford,'' said Mrs. Hymowitz at Trifari, one of the three largest costume jewelry makers. ''So it doesn't matter if it looks real or not.''''Slowly, the lines between fine and fashion jewelry have merged,'' said Gerry Hansen, president of the Jewelry Industry Council in New York. Formerly, ''women who wore fine jewelry'' - jewelry made of gold and precious stones - ''did not wear costume jewelry.''''But now jewelry is more than an accessory,'' he said. ''It is fashion. This is an important sign. We now see women wearing both fine and fashion jewelry. They even mix things.''Not only have clothing designers helped fashion jewelry by emphasizing it with their apparel, they are getting into the business themselves. Anne Klein, Givenchy, Emanuel Ungaro and Yves Saint Laurent all make fashion jewelry.Adding Credibility''When Yves Saint Laurent began designing three years ago, he brought credibility to the fashion jewelry category,'' said Miss Evans at Monet, which makes the YSL collection.Because some current fashions appear incomplete without appropriate jewelry, fashion jewelry and clothes are increasingly being sold side by side.Advertisement''Specialty women's apparel stores used to stay away from jewelry,'' said John Cohn, executive vice president and general merchandising manager for Independent Retailers' Syndicate, an organization of 185 international retailers. ''But now they realize that they can make a lot of money.''Fashion is fickle, so in 18 months fashion jewelry may well have faded. But makers of fashion jewelry are optimistic that their merchandise has won a staunch following.''We've added psychology to the mix,'' Mrs. Hymowitz said, ''so, things are different. Once a woman learns to enjoy jewelry, it becomes part of her style, regardless of the changes in fashion.''A version of this article appears in print on December 24, 1984, on Page 1001033 of the National edition with the headline: COSTUME JEWELRY GAINS STATUS. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe