Cohn
and Rosenberger was established in 1901 by Emanuel Cohn and Carl Rosenberger,
Later incorporated in 1943, they shortened the name to Coro, Inc., combining
the first two letters of the two rounders last names.
Founded as an accessories
boutique in New York City, Cohn and Rosenberger were businessmen who focused on
business operations and growth, but they nevertheless had a good eye for the
arts, hiring very talented professional jewelry designers who were allowed to
develop their own creative visions at Coro.
Even manufacturing was outsourced
until they finally purchased their own facility in Providence, Rhode Island in
1929. This facility grew to be the largest costume jewelry manufacuting
operation in the world, using advanced production line technology and employing
up to 3500 workers at the peak of operations.
Many
talented jewelry designers worked at Coro over the years, and it was the job of
Adolph Katz to select from among the competing designs the ones that Coro would
manufacture and introduce to the market. He also reviewed some of the many
independent designs that were submitted to the company, and he often selected
designs from this pool as well for Coro to manufacture. Katz also filed most of
the Coro patents including some interesting filings for mechanisms that were
used in some of the Coro jewelry designs. One example of a patented mechanism
was the Coro Duette, a double clip patented in 1931 that you could combine into
a single pin through an innovative interlocking catch.
Designers:
Among
the well known jewelry designers who worked at Coro at some point in their
careers were Gene Verecchio, Robert Geissman, Massa Raimond, Oscar Placco, and
Francois, who specialized in floral pins and went on to found his own jewlery
company. Despite this roster of talent, most Coro jewelry is not individually
marked with the designer's name and is only marked as the work of the company.
As a result, Coro came to be known for a certain design aesthetic that was
largely correlated with the designs that Adolph Katz chose to commission for
the company. The company made a wide variety of pieces from figural to floral,
and they developed different lines marketed at different price ranges but
always with recognizable quality.
The
company also expanded overseas, establishing the Corocraft brand in
England in 1933 and moving into Canada soon thereafter, and they soon had
design stores in most major American cities. Coro made a great deal of
patriotic jewelry during the years of World War II including the Emblem of
Americas brooch that is quite rare and avidly sought by collectors. They also
made jelly belly jewelry with lucite and multi-colored glass cabochons
for which they become quite well known, but a style which was pioneered by Trifari.
Coro was not above exploiting the design innovations of others, and especially Trifari
and Monet, but they also created some unique styles of their own such as
the Coro Duette from their own roster of designers.
Vintage jewelry; Corocraft bracelet, 1940
https://www.etsy.com/il-en/listing/199888645/vintage-jewelry-corocraft-bracelet
Richton
International Corporation of New York purchased Coro in 1957 and continued
production at the Providence factory into the 1970s. They were not well
positioned in their manufacturing capabilities to produce the bead styles worn
in the 1960s or the simpler goldtone jewelry produced in the 1970s by companies
such as Monet and Asian manufacturers. Coro ceased ongoing operations in the U.
S. in 1979 and continued
producing jewelry in Canada until the mid 1990s.
Coro Duette - Moonglow Lucite Brooch
Coro Sterling Silver Ruby Red Glass Love Birds Brooch
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