Vintage Nettie Rosenstein Jewelry Buying Guide

If you are looking for vintage Nettie Rosenstein jewelry, then you have come to the right place. Here you will learn about the history, materials, most collectible pieces, and where to buy.

Nettie Rosenstein jewelry was elegant and rendered in perfect detail. Favorites among collectors include the pieces fashioned from sterling vermeil, portrait jewelry, Far Eastern themes and pieces with heraldic motifs.

Brief History of Nettie Rosenstein Jewelry

Nettie Rosenscrans was born in Salzburg, Austria, in 1890. Her family immigrated to the United States while Nettie was still a child. They settled in Harlem in New York City where they opened a dry-goods store. With access to all the lovely fabrics, Nettie started making her own clothes when she was only 11 years old. Later, she made custom-designed dresses for her parents’ customers and the neighborhood ladies.

In 1913, Nettie married Saul Rosenstein who sold women's underwear, and her occasional dressmaking became a home business. She began wholesaling when the I. Magnin department store wanted to buy her designs. Neiman-Marcus and Bonwit Teller soon followed. By 1921, with her business thriving and 50 dressmakers working for her, she opened her shop in a fashionable section of New York City. 

Nettie tried retiring in 1927 when her husband retired, but it did not last long. In the early 1930s, she founded a new company that sold fashions, as always, but also included jewelry. Many fashion designers at that time branched off into jewelry—some successfully, some not so. The Depression did not hold Nettie back at all—in 1937, the business grossed $1 million.

In the 1940s, Nettie partnered with her friend, Sol Klein, also from Austria, to form Nettie Rosenstein Accessories, Inc. to create costume jewelry and handbags. In 1961, Nettie gave up her fashion business to concentrate on jewelry and accessories. She and Sol designed high-quality, complex designer jewelry that would complement popular trends in fashion. The average woman was able to stylishly accessorize any outfit at a lower cost than fine jewelry with large and small figurals, silver vermeil combined with colorful enamel and quality rhinestones. The jewelry is just as stylish on today’s fashions.

After Nettie retired for good, Sol continued to design and manufacture jewelry under the name Nettie Rosenstein Accessories until he retired in 1975. That was the end of the Nettie Rosenstein brand. Nettie died in 1980 at the age of 90.

Nettie Rosenstein Jewelry Hallmark

Nettie’s jewelry is almost always hallmarked with her name spelled out in full in a script font. Sometimes it appears in an oval; sometimes in a rectangle; sometimes “STERLING” appears with it.

Materials Used in Nettie Rosenstein Jewelry

• Sterling Silver
• Vermeil
• Gold-plated sterling silver
• Gold-washed sterling silver
• Silver-toned metal
• Gold-plated metal
• Lucite
• Crystals
• Rhinestones
• Glass
• Glass beads
• Hand-faceted glass beads
• Pate de verre (ground glass colored and poured into a mold)
• Cabochons
• Faux emeralds
• Faux pearls
• Faux ivory
• Mother of Pearl
• Carved amber
• Turquoise
• Satin beads
• Coral
• Enamel

Favorite Collectibles: Vintage Nettie Rosenstein Jewelry

Conclusion

One of the advantages of Nettie’s jewelry is that there is such a vast array of designs—both she and Sol were prolific creators—and designs that are not seen in any other line. Another advantage is that all of her jewelry is vintage!

Check out her pages on Etsy and on eBay.