History and products of the Kharkiv Jewelry Factory

24 June 2020
0 reviews

Products from the Kharkiv Jewelry Factory - both vintage and modern - are found quite often and always attract attention. The belonging of jewelry to this factory fully guarantees quality. Earrings, rings, and brooches with bright inserts: with natural and synthetic stones or without jewelry inserts - are always distinguished by their impeccable design and excellent jewelry work.

History of the plant

Kharkiv Jewelry Factory is a very old and honored manufacturer with a history of more than 80 years.

The history of jewelry production dates back to 1929. Initially, only watch products were produced there. Still, by the end of the 1930s, it was decided to start making jewelry from watch production waste (silver, gold). The first products were simple bracelets that complemented watches and simple women's jewelry without jewelry inserts.

Soon, a jewelry production workshop was organized at the watch factory. After the war, from 1947, watch production faded into the background - jewelry production became a priority. A few years later, in the early 1950s, watch production at the factory was eliminated. The factory was repurposed only for the production of jewelry.

Plant assortment

Soviet jewelry enterprises had different levels of creative freedom and resource support. It was defined artificially and from an ideological point of view. Enterprises in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Sverdlovsk had better raw materials and more freedom; enterprises in Latvia and Estonia also stood out (because they were, along with the border, a “showcase” of the socialist system).

This privileged position had several consequences: better raw materials, fewer regulations on consuming precious metals, the model range is updated more often, and jewelry artists are free to express themselves. The Kharkiv Jewelry Factory did not have such privileges, which is evident from the assortment. It changed along with the general mood, but change progressed slowly. In general, these were mass items for vast consumption.

In the early 1970s, a new era began for the factory - in 1973, the production was renamed to its modern name - Kharkiv Jewelry Factory. From this moment on, the scale is gradually increasing, the range of products is growing, and talented jewelry artists are involved in the work. Various natural and artificial jewelry inserts are also used.

Spread of the catalog page "Jewelry" of the "Soyuz Yuvelirprom". 1980

The Kharkiv Jewelry Factory produced many pieces of jewelry familiar from childhood. This manufacturer has many classic models: raspberry earrings, rings with large pink corundums, brooches with semi-precious stones, and quartz - rock crystal, citrine, etc.

And now the plant produces classic models: berry earrings with a flower on a French bow, stud earrings, rings with synthetic corundum, and gold-plated items.

Three main types of HJF jewelry

In general, jewelry from the Kharkiv Jewelry Factory of the USSR period can be divided into three parts.

First: classic things, stylistically reminiscent of pre-revolutionary jewelry. In a broader sense, these are variations of Victorian, Edwardian, and mourning jewelry. Brooches with black inserts and colorless rhinestones, bouquets, flowers made of six crystals, marquise rings, and rings with one stone with a minimum of details. Usually, glass inserts or synthetic rubies and sapphires. Such decorations existed throughout the entire period of the USSR.

Second: modern models of geometric shapes without detail. This is a mix of echoes of 1960s modernism and Art Deco. Geometric brooches covered with colorless rhinestones, double brooches-trinkets with a single crystal, long earrings with a cube or ball of crystals at the end, rings of an unusual futuristic shape with a smooth surface and one crystal. These appeared in the 1960s.

Third: romanticism and decorativeness. Such decorations often resemble flowers, and leaves, have a pronounced decor they used natural decorative stones: agates, rhodonite, jade, bowenite, and jasper. These include flower brooches with agate cabochons in the middle and filigree or with pendants at the bottom, rings with elongated inserts and laconic decoration on the sides (sometimes these are leaves because of the patterns), earrings with a stone in the middle and braid around the perimeter, with leaves, buds.

These are also quite classic things (compared to world trends); their general features are reminiscent of art nouveau. But they are made better; the jewelry is heavier, has more silver, and better fasteners.

Important role

Among the Ukrainian jewelry enterprises of the Soviet period, Kharkiv occupied an important role. Because this factory produced a huge amount of jewelry, it was a robust enterprise with many workers. His main task was to saturate the mass market in chronic shortages. Unfortunately, the system did not allow the local fashion designers to open up to their full potential. But these decorations remain in the memory, like the ones worn by our mothers, grandmothers, first teachers, etc.

0 reviews
Write a review
Write a review
Note: HTML is not translated!
Bad
Good