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Sarah Coventry was an American luxury jewelry brand named after the granddaughter of Lyman K. Stuart, the founder of the company. Established in 1949, the sales force was at first all male. Thousands of women and some men were recruited to sell jewelry at Sarah Coventry home jewelry parties.[1] It was recognized as the largest direct selling jewelry company in the world during the sixties and early seventies.[2] The company did not manufacture their own jewelry but did sketch out designs, then used other manufacturers to produce it. Most of the production happened in the state of Rhode Island.[3]
 Sarah Coventry 1976 "Outer Space" pendant | |
| Industry | Jewelry |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1949 |
| Founder | Lyman K. Stuart |
In 1981 Sarah Coventry filed for bankruptcy. The trademarked name passed through several hands. In the mid-1980s a subsidiary of Playboy Enterprises, Inc. (the publishers of Playboy magazine) owned the company, as it was planning on diversifying into a brand management company. It later sold the company in the 1990s. However, Sarah Coventry jewelry was re-opened years later by new owners and was being distributed by representatives via catalogs, the Internet, home shopping networks, and other means. By 2009, the name Sarah Coventry was no longer in business.
Marks
editSome marks seen on vintage jewelry include:
- "SC"
- "Sarah Cov."
- "Sarah"
- "SaC"
- "Coventry"
There is usually but not always a copyright symbol accompanying the mark.
References
edit- ^ Bridgeford-Smith, Jan (2009). "All That Glittered: The Rise and Fall of Sarah Coventry Inc". Life in the Finger Lakes (Summer). Retrieved 17 October 2021.
- ^ Sturdivant, Sandra (2012). Identifying Sarah Coventry Jewelry, 1949-2009. Schiffer Pub. ISBN 978-0-7643-4214-1.
- ^ Miller, Judith (2010). Miller's Costume Jewelry. Great Britain: Octopus Publishing Group Ltd. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-84533-563-2.
Further reading
edit- Oshel, Kay (2003). Sarah Coventry jewelry. A Schiffer book for collectors. Schiffer Pub. ISBN 978-0-7643-1704-0.
- Robinson, Deborah A. (2006). Emmons & Sarah Coventry: Jewelry Fashion Show. Schiffer Pub. ISBN 978-0-7643-2145-0.
- Sturdivant, Sandra (2012). Identifying Sarah Coventry Jewelry, 1949-2009. Schiffer Pub. ISBN 978-0-7643-4214-1.