Seaman Schepps Brooches
A scrappy, self-made artist who transformed turbo shells into decadent earrings and crystal chessmen into bold bracelets, Seaman Schepps (1881–1972) tirelessly worked his way up from the tenements of New York’s Lower East Side to become “America’s Court Jeweler.”
Born to immigrant parents who named him for the Seamen’s Bank for Savings that his mother could see from the hospital — or so the legend goes — Schepps dropped out of school at the age of 14 and never had any formal jewelry training. He later moved to California, where he opened his first jewelry shop in 1904. In 1921, he returned to New York to build on the success he’d begun to enjoy as a jeweler on the West Coast, but it wasn’t long before his Manhattan house, which counted Broadway stars and theater patrons among its clientele, was hit hard by the stock market crash of 1929. Schepps used this disruption to rethink his approach to jewelry, debuting a new store in 1934 on Madison Avenue, where he would make his mark in playful custom adornments.
While many high-end jewelers of his era focused on the purest and most valuable gemstones, Schepps chose his materials for their color and shape, elevating flawed stones others disregarded in collage-like formations involving unconventional materials such as fine wood, coral, seashells and flea-market finds. Passersby of his New York City shop could find a frog-shaped brooch carved from rosewood, a vintage snuff bottle broken into links for a bracelet and loose-drilled pearls plugged with diamonds. Schepps’s whimsical pieces found fans in fashion icons who appreciated his unique statements, including Doris Duke, Andy Warhol and the Duchess of Windsor.
Following Schepps’s death in 1972, his daughter, jewelry designer Patricia S. Vaill, ran the jewelry house for two decades before it was taken over by Jay Bauer and Anthony Hopenhajm of Trianon jewelry. Following the closure of the company’s Park Avenue store in November 2020, sales for Seaman Schepps is now based in its boutique location out of Palm Beach, Florida, where the legendary brand carries forth its founder’s spirited designs.
On 1stDibs, find a distinctive collection of vintage Seaman Schepps jewelry, including brooches, bracelets and other accessories.
21st Century and Contemporary Seaman Schepps Brooches
Sapphire, Tourmaline, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Seaman Schepps Brooches
14k Gold
1940s American Retro Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Emerald, Ruby, Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold
Mid-20th Century American Retro Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Pearl, 14k Gold
20th Century American Modern Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Pearl, Platinum
Mid-20th Century American Retro Seaman Schepps Brooches
Aquamarine, Diamond, Platinum
21st Century and Contemporary American Artist Seaman Schepps Brooches
Turquoise, Gold
1970s American Modernist Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Carnelian, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
20th Century Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Pearl, Platinum
Late 20th Century American Contemporary Seaman Schepps Brooches
Carnelian, Sapphire, 18k Gold
1990s American Contemporary Seaman Schepps Brooches
Citrine, Diamond, Cultured Pearl, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1950s American Post-War Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Jade, Ruby, White Diamond, Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
20th Century Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Onyx, Gold
1940s American Art Nouveau Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, 14k Gold, White Gold, Yellow Gold
1970s Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Chalcedony, Pearl, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1940s Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Gold
20th Century American Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Ruby, Gold
1980s American Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Crystal, Diamond, 18k Gold
Late 20th Century Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Emerald, Cultured Pearl, Rock Crystal, Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold,...
1960s American Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Turquoise, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Gold
1970s American Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
White Diamond, Emerald, Ruby, Blue Sapphire, 18k Gold
1940s American Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Coral, 14k Gold
1950s American Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Yellow Gold, 14k Gold
American Seaman Schepps Brooches
1990s North American Contemporary Seaman Schepps Brooches
Carnelian, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Turquoise, 18k Gold
1910s Italian Victorian Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Pearl
1950s American Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
14k Gold
2010s British Contemporary Seaman Schepps Brooches
Tourmaline, Sapphire, Black Pearl, Pearl, White Diamond, Diamond, Rose G...
1970s American Modernist Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Pearl, Gold, 14k Gold
19th Century Unknown Etruscan Revival Antique Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Turquoise, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
1950s American Post-War Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Jade, Ruby, White Diamond, Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
1970s American Modernist Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Carnelian, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Early 20th Century Unknown Art Deco Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Platinum
1970s Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Chalcedony, Pearl, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1960s American Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, Gold, 14k Gold
Late 20th Century Unknown Art Nouveau Seaman Schepps Brooches
Turquoise, 14k Gold
1930s Unknown Retro Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Platinum
1990s North American Contemporary Seaman Schepps Brooches
Carnelian, Sapphire, Blue Sapphire, Turquoise, 18k Gold
Late 20th Century Seaman Schepps Brooches
Amber, Citrine, Pearl, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Mid-20th Century Retro Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Emerald, Sapphire, Yellow Gold
20th Century American Modern Seaman Schepps Brooches
Aquamarine, Diamond, Blue Sapphire, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
2010s American Modern Seaman Schepps Brooches
Amethyst, Iolite, Gold, 18k Gold, White Gold
1990s Seaman Schepps Brooches
Rock Crystal, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1980s American Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Citrine, 18k Gold
20th Century American Modern Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Moonstone, Ruby, Sapphire, 18k Gold, White Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Pearl, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
Late 20th Century Seaman Schepps Brooches
Crystal, Rock Crystal, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
1950s American Vintage Seaman Schepps Brooches
Pearl, Yellow Gold
20th Century American Seaman Schepps Brooches
Diamond, Pearl, Platinum