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  William Ruser Los Angeles “Charisse” 10 year anniversary bracelet, 1958 platinum set with diamonds and 8 pearls and further set with a double ruby heart charm that was given to Cyd Charisse by Tony Martin for their 10th wedding anniversary on May 15, 1958. It is engraved: Martin’s Mixture since May 15, 1948 Ten Fluid Years “Taint Tin” (They were married for 60 years) Signed and marked: Ruser, Made in California, 10% irid Plat

   

  The well known Beverly Hills jeweler, William Ruser, started his career at the firm of Trabert & Hoeffer-Mauboussin in Atlantic City New Jersey, before being transferred to manage their Los Angeles location in the 1930’s. In 1947, he and his wife opened their eponymous boutique on Rodeo drive. While keeping traditional diamond and precious gemstone merchandise in stock, the Rusers’ specialty was baroque, freshwater pearl jewelry. In the 1930’s, Ruser had bought several shoeboxes full of these oddly shaped, American pearls from a button manufacturer. Freshwater pearls had been relatively unpopular at the time. Though Art Nouveau jewelers used them liberally to embellish their pieces, jewelers in the 1920 and 30’s did not follow suit. In the late 1940’s and throughout the 1950’s, Ruser helped to change this. In the vanguard, along with Verdura and Seaman Schepps, the Rusers created swans, hummingbirds, poodles, skunks, as well as playful cherubs with freshwater pearl accents. Throughout the 1950’s and 60’s, business boomed and Hollywood starlets proudly wore his figural pieces both on and off screen. In 1969, Ruser closed up shop, selling its location to Van Cleef & Arpels. 

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  Louis W. Rice / Apollo Studios “Skyscraper” American Art Deco hand mirror 1928

  LOUIS W. RICE  (Designer)  USA
  APOLLO STUDIOS, BERNARD RICE’S SONS, INC.  New York

  Skyscraper vanity hand mirror   1928

  Silver-plated brass, original beveled mirror

  Stamped marks: APOLLO STUDIOS, NEW YORK EPNS within a rectangle, SKYSCRAPER, REG. U.S. PAT. OFF.

  For related Skyscraper objects see: (cocktail shaker)   Silver in America, 1840-1940: A Century of Splendor, Charles L. Venable  (Dallas/New York: Dallas Museum of Art, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1995) p. 288; (teapot) Modernism:  Modernist Design 1880-1940, The Norwest Collection, Norwest Corporation, Minneapolis, Alastair Duncan (Woodbridge, Suffolk, England:  The Antique Collector’s Club, 1998); (cocktail shaker) American Modern 1925-1940, Design for a New Age, J. Stewart Johnson, exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York: Harry N. Abrams, American Federation of Arts, 2000) p. 48.

  L: 18 1/2″ x D: 5″

  The same model can be found in the collection of the New York Historical Society.