Mazer Brothers
(1927 - 1980)
Brothers Joseph and Louis Mazer immigrated to the United States from Russia at a young age. The Mazer Brothers opened a business in 1917 that produced shoe buckles under the trading name of
the Franco-American Bead Company of Philadelphia. During 1927, the Mazer brothers established a new company in New York. The company’s name was Mazer Brothers. Louis Mazer was general director and designer. The brothers marketed their product as “Jewels of Elegance.”
In 1930, Marcel Boucher was a designer for Mazer Brothers; he stayed until 1937 when he left to open his own company.
Many of Mazer’s early pieces were made to look like fine jewelry. The high quality and color of rhinestones as well as plating techniques could at first glance look like real gold and gemstones. Mazer Bros. jewelry was of high quality and was priced affordably for the times. Their jewelry was marked "Mazer," "Mazer Bros." or "Sea-Maze."
In 1948, Joseph Mazer left the company to open his own firm, Joseph J. Mazer & Co., with his son, Lincoln. This company became better known as Jomaz as a result of the mark they used on their jewelry. Louis Mazer continued to work for the original firm, Mazer Brothers, until 1951 when the company’s last collection of jewelry was made. Mazer Brothers went out of business in 1977. Joseph Mazer retired in the mid 1960s, leaving his firm under the directorship of his son A. Lincoln Mazer who died in 1976. The company produced new collections annually until 1981.
The Mazer Brothers and Jomaz designs were often affordable versions of the great designs in precious jewelry. Mazer Brothers was known for its innovative approach, constantly exploring new design and production methods and experimenting with different techniques for creating metal alloys or for use in the refinishing processes. The stones used in Mazer Brother’s jewelry were frequently made to order by Swarovski in Austria.
Jomaz designs often combined metals to create a two-tone effect. Metalwork was often textured or irregular in outline to add interest. Cabochons, so rare in most costume jewelry, often appear on Jomaz’s pieces. Large square cut pastes, which mainly disappeared after the 1940s, were an attractive Jomaz feature that persisted to the late 1970s.
The Mazer brothers preferred abstract to figural designs. They are best known for their 1940s glamorous “cocktail-style” pieces, where large, often square-cut pastes were set in gold-plated silver; a jewelry technique referred to as “vermeil.” In the 1930s and 1940s, Mazer, like Trifari and Boucher, sold plenty of vermeil “snake-chain” necklaces.
In the early 1950s Mazer’s jewelry was designed by AndréFleurida. Other designers using the Mazer trademark signature were Adolfo, in 1970; Thierry Mugler, in 1978; and Sandra Miller. The companies made costume jewelry up to the 1970s.
