Costume Jewelry maker
Miriam Haskell marks
Miriam Haskell opened her first shop in New York's McAlpin Hotel in 1926, adding a West 57th Street outlet soon after.
- Active
- 1926–present
- Based in
- New York, New York, United States
- Marks listed
- 6
- Typical pieces
- necklaces, brooches, earrings, bracelets
The marks, by date
Each mark’s wording is written out as a transcription: the words and line breaks, not a picture of the mark. Where a source describes a mark instead of quoting it, the description is shown in italics.
Where: hang tag
Black and gold paper hang tag used during the unsigned period; no permanent signature.
Where: stamped into the metal
Where: on horseshoe-shaped plaque on back
Horseshoe plaque; used irregularly and rare, though leftover plaques stayed in company inventory and appear later.
Where: oval hang tag or plaque
Stamping shows through, indented and reversed, on the back of the tag.
Where: oval plaque soldered to filigree / hang tag
Flat-back oval tag with no show-through.
Where: oval tag
Identification number in the tag center for limited editions.
History
Designer Frank Hess worked with her from the start and kept designing for the firm after she left; control passed to her brothers around 1950. Her brother Joseph Haskell introduced regular signing. The company still operates as Haskell Jewels, LLC, with its luxury line made in New York City.
Dating clues
- No permanent signature was used from 1926 to about 1947; genuine early pieces may be unsigned.
- The horseshoe plaque is the earliest permanent signature (c. 1947–1950) and is rare.
- Oval tags with stamping visible from the back date to about 1950 through the late 1970s; flat-backed oval tags start around 1979.
- Backs changed over time: pierced metal, then flat plate (late 1920s–1930s), pierced plastic (WWII), then heavy filigree after the war.
Look-alikes and reproductions
- Copies and fakes tend to have lighter filigree backs and poorer finish; unsigned filigree-backed pieces deserve caution (Very Vintage).
- Later department-store pieces marked M. Haskell usually lack the classic oval mark and are of lower quality (Antique Trader).
Other names on the marks
Haskell; Haskell Jewels, LLC
Where sources disagree: The start of the oval mark is given as 1950 (search-result text), 1950–1951 (RCJ) and early 1950s (Very Vintage); horseshoe start as 1947–48 or 1948. Differences are small.
Sources
Marks help identify a maker and a date range, but they can’t prove a piece is genuine. Reproductions and later reissues can carry old marks. This entry isn’t an appraisal.