GEMS FROM N

NAPIER Napier was a costume jewelry company that made a wide range of pieces. The company began operations in 1875 in Attleboro, Massaachusetts, making silver products; it was then called "Whitney and Rice." When the company was sold in 1882, it was renamed "Carpenter and Bliss," and soon after, "E. A. Bliss and Co., Inc." In 1890, the company moved operations to Meriden, Connecticut. During the 1910's (after Word War 1), the company began making costume jewelry. In 1920, when James H. Napier was president of the company, the company name was changed to "Napier-Bliss." (Napier headed the company until 1960.) In 1922, the name was again changed, this time to "Napier." "Victoria & Company Ltd." (now called Victoria Creations) bought the company in the late 1980's (it also bought Richlieu and Givenchy). The "Jones Apparel Group" bought Victoria in 2000, also buying the Napier brand (which is no longer manufactured). The Napier apple pin above is gold plated metal with a translucent plastic apple.

NATURAL PEARL
A natural pearl (also called a genuine pearl) is a pearl that was produced in an oyster, freshwater mussel or other mollusk as a reaction to a tiny invading object that happened to be caught inside its shell.