How Rhode Island Dominated the Fashion Jewelry Industry
Thursday June 1, 2023 7pm
It all started with Seril Dodge, a Providence clockmaker and silversmith, and his nephew Nehemiah Dodge, who invented a process for coating less expensive metals such as copper with gold and silver in the 1790s.
From the mid-1800s through the 1980s, Rhode Island was known as the jewelry capital of America. Rhode Island-based manufacturers such as Coro, Trifari, Little Nemo, Monet, Swank and Speidel and jewelry designers such as Gene Verrecchia of Coro and Alfred Philippe of Trifari became internationally recognized. By 1986, Rhode Island produced eighty percent of the costume jewelry made in the United States.
How did Rhode Island dominate the fashion jewelry industry? Find out on Thursday, June 1, when antiques and collectibles expert Tom Tomaszek will talk about the growth of Rhode Island’s jewelry manufacturing industry. If you plan to join us in person, feel free to bring a piece of jewelry for Tom to discuss.
The program, which is free and open to the public, will take place in the Museum Gallery at 7:00 p.m. It will also be live-streamed on the Museum’s YouTube channel.