Costume Jewellery | The Jewel Box

Fashion jewellery that carries its era in miniature: gilt forms, crystal, clip earrings and the imaginative signatures of the maisons.

Glass poured like water

The craft behind much of Chanel's costume jewellery is older than the house of Chanel itself. Gripoix was founded in 1869, forty-one years before Chanel (the Met gives 1910), and its technique, pâte de verre, pours molten glass and enamel into gilded metal frames, where it sets around each stone. The Metropolitan Museum of Art describes a method that works directly with the molten material rather than in a kiln, which allows more freedom in colour and form, and notes the house's distinctive settings that frame floating glass.

Gripoix was among Chanel's earliest and most frequent collaborators. The Met holds a Chanel necklace of about 1938, a wreath of graduated translucent flower heads in red dahlia forms, and its record credits Suzanne Gripoix with the design and Gabrielle Chanel with elevating costume jewellery to high fashion. That sentence is the best short account of why a gilt clip earring from a Paris house can be a collector's object, and why the finest of them are kept in boxes.

Reading the stamp

Chanel's jewellery carries its date on the back, usually out of sight near the clasp, on a small cartouche or a moulded plaque. Two dealer references agree on the broad order of things. Pieces made between 1921 and 1939 were left unmarked. From 1971 to 1981 a round cartouche appears with a copyright sign, interlocking CCs and Made in France. In 1982 and 1983 the year takes the place of the country. From 1984 to about 1990, a two-digit number from 23 to 29 on a thin oval is a collection number rather than a year. And from 1993 to 2020 a two-digit year and a season letter appear together: A for autumn, P for spring, C for cruise, and V for a continuous line. By that rule a pair stamped 94A belongs to autumn 1994, and 98P to spring 1998. Made in Italy appears on some pieces from around the year 2000.

Treat the stamp as a clue and not as proof. Both references warn that markings can be counterfeited and that a soldered tag can fall away, so the metal, the glass, the finish and the weight all have to agree with the date. Later pieces with laser-etched marks, for example, are described as lighter, with a champagne-toned finish.

How a clip earring ages

Costume pieces age in their own way. The gilt plating wears first at the points of contact: the edge of a drop, the rim of a cabochon, the face of a clasp. Poured glass can show a hairline in the enamel or a lifted stone at its setting, and a clip needs inspection as a mechanism, with the spring tension even and the pads intact, before it is judged as a jewel.

That is why each piece in this collection is examined and documented in Tokyo, Japan before dispatch and graded in plain words. A little softening of the gilt is the honest sign of a piece that has been worn. A seat that has been re-glued, or glass that has been replaced, is a different kind of history, and one worth asking about.

Looking for a particular season, motif or house?

Our Otoriyose private request desk can look within Japan for a specific piece of costume jewellery and reply with what is available.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Gripoix?

Gripoix is a French house founded in 1869 that is known for pâte de verre, in which molten glass and enamel are poured into gilded frames. It was among Chanel's earliest and most frequent collaborators, according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

How do I read a Chanel date stamp on jewellery?

From 1993 to 2020 pieces carry a two-digit year and a season letter, with A for autumn, P for spring, C for cruise and V for a continuous line, so 94A is autumn 1994. Earlier pieces use other systems, including collection numbers from 23 to 29 in the 1980s.

Does a Chanel stamp prove a piece is genuine?

No. Dealer references note that markings can be counterfeited and that soldered tags can fall off, so the stamp must agree with the metal, glass, finish and weight.

Why are some Chanel pieces unmarked?

Pieces made between 1921 and 1939 were left unmarked, according to dealer references, so the absence of a stamp on a very early piece is not by itself a warning.

How are clip earrings graded?

Each pair is examined and documented in Tokyo, Japan, and the grade describes the gilt, the glass or stones, the spring tension and the pads in plain terms. The scale is explained on the Authenticity and Condition page.

Sources and last review

Last reviewed 28 October 2026. Curated in Tokyo, Japan by The Japonista Curation and Concierge Team.

141 pieces