Lisner - 1904-1985
For nearly 30 years after its 1904 founding, Lisner imported and sold Elsa Schiaparelli's Parisian jewelry in the United States. In the '30s, the company achieved a higher profile by finally selling its own designs that employed Dupont's new colored acrylic plastic called Lucite, as well as clear and colored rhinestones (particularly aurora borealis) and lava stones, as well as chromed, silver-plated, and black japanned metal.
David Lisner was born in Germany in 1846. He and his family immigrated to New York in 1864. The Lisner family imported wholesale goods from Europe including jewelry until the 1930s. With the approach of WWII, it became increasingly difficult to import jewelry and rhinestones from Europe.
Many U.S. jewelry companies had offices in Europe and with the onset of the war, these offices closed. A major part of Lisner’s business consisted of importing Schiaparelli jewelry, a French company, and distributing it in the U.S. Lisner licensed the Schiaparelli name for the production of both Schiaparelli jewelry and their accessories in the U.S.
Lisner continued to diversify, expanding into other areas of the fashion industry, including purchasing the Prince Matchabelli perfume line in the 1930s.
The majority of Lisner jewelry was produced in the 1950s and 1960s. The quality of their jewelry ranged from very good to above average. In the 1970s, Lisner purchased the Richelieu Pearl Company and changed its name to “Lisner-Richelieu”. The Richelieu line of jewelry would rank with some of the best manufacturers of the times. Then in 1985, the Lisner Company ceased its operations.
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