I have collected Ricarde of Hollywood Jewelry for many years. It is a little known company that is primarily known for its' duplication of jewelry from various movies, the most famous being Gone With the Wind (1939).

There has been very little documentation on the company or the jewelry itself, primarily because it is difficult to research even with the modern onset of the internet search engines.

I hope to dispel one of the most common myths about Ricarde in this guide.

Myth: All Ricarde of Hollywood Jewelry is from Gone With the Wind.

Fact: No! Ricarde made only five different sets of Gone With the Wind Jewelry. The most commonly found is the set called "Scarlett" which was not worn by Vivien Leigh at all, but worn by Belle Watling (Ona Munson).

                                 Scarlett Ad from 1939 and the Garnet Red Scarlett Bracelet

                                      The Phantom Crown Ad and the real thing

The other commonly found pieces of Ricarde are not as well known and come from the Bette Davis movie, Juarez (1939). An interesting fact is that Juarez was originally titled The Phantom Crown, from the play of the same name. It is known for certain that four different sets of Juarez jewelry was made: Maximilian, Juarez, Hapsburg, and (pictured above) The Phantom Crown.

There may be additional sets but at this time I have found no ads to document it. I have pieces in my collection that are signed and I can only speculate on what they are. There are no other known movies for which Ricarde produced jewelry. This company should not be confused with Joseff of Hollywood which produced large volumes of movie jewelry.

Ricarde necklaces tend to be scarce because I have found they tend to fall apart. For example, the Phantom Crown necklace is actually made of very soft brass links that have been folded over and painted black. These are held together by small brass rings. The brass bends very easily, and is not sturdy at all. In the case of the Scarlett pattern necklaces, they lose their glass rhinestones and faux pearls, and the rings holding the sets together tend to pull apart. (Also, most of the pieces I have found are made for a small woman and the average woman of today can't hook a Ricarde chain bracelet on her wrist.)

Each set of jewelry usually consisted of the following:

Necklace, brooch, dress clip, bracelet, ring, and earrings.

Most of the Jewelry sets were glass Rhinestones and came in five colors: Garnet, Emerald, Topaz, Blue, and Purple.

The Ricarde pieces were inexpensive for the time -- $2- $3 each and were not made with longevity in mind. The brooches and dress clips have a heavier construction and are fairly easy to find.

There are several unnamed Ricarde patterns that do turn up quite often. The necklace and bracelet below are sturdily constructed and well made as well as easy to find.

There is another pattern that is enamel over brass with faux pearls that appears russian in origin that the necklace and bracelet sport very heavy construction. There seem to be quite a few of these pieces around. This pattern has since been found to be called "Hapsburg" and is from "Juarez". It is one of the most common of the Ricarde patterns.

One other thing that Ricarde of Hollywood did is to produce the commonly found Gone With the Wind premiums that were made in 1939-40 for the Lux soap company. These pieces are not marked, but, like the marked pieces of Ricarde, have additional pieces that match the brooches in the Lux ads. The two lux brooches - one which is a faux pearl and Turquiose on gold brass or potmetal (worn by Hattie McDaniel as Mammy), and one which is a white plastic roman cameo on black plastic and set in brass with a greek key design, had a very thin piece of printed tissue that came with them in the mailing box that had the additional pieces listed and a coupon to fill out to order them. To date, I have ever only seen 1 of these brooches pristine in its box with the tissue form. The two brooches sold for fifteen cents each with a Lux soap wrapper.

Cameo Brooch worn by Scarlett                    Turquiose Brooch worn by Mammy

Above, an extremely rare example of the Lux Cameo Brooch Set which consists of a very small, nearly child size choker necklace, bracelet, pendant and brooch. Missing are the ring and earrings.

WORDS OF WISDOM FOR SELLERS OF THIS JEWELRY:

Please remember that this is NOT high end jewelry and thus the actual value on most pieces is moderate to low. Just because a piece may be from "Gone With the Wind" does not make it any more valuable than a piece from "Juarez". These pieces, as stated in the article above, are made of glass, inexpensive but nice quality brass, and plastic "pearls". Premium prices can be commanded only for items that are pristine, untouched and with their original tags from the store.

Unfortunately, because of the cheap construction, Ricarde pieces fall apart and many times have replaced pearls and stones, which destroy what little value they have in some cases. Why? Because the color of the stones and luster of the pearls are hard to match. Items with missing stones should be reduced in price accordingly with the damage. To give you an idea of value, here is an example of the average price paid on marked Ricarde pieces. This is not intended to be a price guide, just a general comment on prices paid. Sellers can set their own prices, just like on anything else.

Bracelets: $40-$75 

Brooches: $10-$40

Dress Clips: $20-$40

Necklaces: $35- $125

Earrings: $10-$75

Rings: $75 - $100

Pendants: $10-$50