Miriam Haskell was born in Indiana in 1899. In 1924 she opened a small shop in New York selling hand made costume jewellery and the Miriam Haskell company was established in 1926. Frank Hess joined Miriam Haskell as her chief designer. The company continued to expand during the next thirty years selling their jewellery thoughout America in fashionable department stores and abroad. Her jewellery was worn by many well known people including Joan Crawford, Gloria Vanderbilt and the Duchess of Windsor.
The early jewellery was largely based on themes from nature such as flowers, leaves and butterflies. The highest quality materials were used to produce the distinctive asymmetrical designs. Three collections were designed each year with items in each line designed in three levels of complexity and price. When America joined the war in the 1940’s metal for jewellery became scarce so the company started using different materials such as plastics.
Frank Hess remained with the company until 1960 Miriam Haskell became ill in 1952 and the company changed hands several times during the next few years and still continues to produce jewellery to this day.