Dateline: 11/9/99

A Grand Gala Dinner with speaker program followed in the Grand Ballroom. Here was the opportunity to dress to the 'nths, and the Conventioneers certainly did. The best in fancy vintage and modern jewelry and fashion was on display, admired, complemented on, and of course, photographed.

Keynote speaker at the gala dinner was Professor Richard Fishman, who teaches sculpture at Brown University, Department of Visual Arts, and a well known sculptor himself. Prof. Fishman once tried his hand at jewelry design, sculpting in 24K gold. His organic designs were shown and sold at Saks Fifth Avenue, and, naturally, copied by costume jewelers almost immediately.

Prof. Fishman's recollections of his brief career as a jewelry designer included both sad and humourous moments.

Humorous, as he had never thought of himself as anything but a sculptor, suddenly thrust in the limelight as a hot jewelry designer.

Sad, because of the underhanded treatment he had received from manufacturers and name licensors who wanted his designs but, in the end, had no use for either his name or him.

Prof. Fishman, now contented to have returned to his academic corner teaching sculpture, admitted in his gargon humor style that he was never cut out to be either a professional jewelry designer or a businessman.

Annika was a company name chosen for Prof. Fishman's jewelry for personal reasons. Prof. Fishman raconted how the Ralph Lauren company bought the licensing rights to Annika jewelry but then did not want the designer after designs were submitted. Prof. Fishman responded by leaving Ralph Lauren. Ralph Lauren then sold the Annika jewelry license to the Napier company. Napier did not want Richard Fishman in person either, only his designs.

The good professor left Napier for this reason. Upon hearing this, Ralph Lauren promptly canceled the sale of the Annika license to Napier. No one was the winner and Annika (or Richard Fishman) jewelry was no longer being made. The Napier company was absorbed shortly thereafter by Victoria Creations. Ironically, the closing of the Napier, Meriden, Connecticut, plant, was officially announced on the same date this Convention dinner was held (Oct. 15, 1999). Napier production is expected to surface in some other country, probably in Central America.

Prof. Fishman's experience illustrates how creative talent is often underappreciated and misappropriated in the manufacturing and marketing world. Designs are copied, stolen, the designer is out of the picture. Often a designer's own name is not permitted to appear on the jewelry if another famous name is licensing it.

Richard Fishman's jewelry was allowed to be marked Annika for Ralph Lauren. It was not allowed to be marked Richard Fishman for Ralph Lauren, however. Which is another reason Prof. Fishman resigned from Ralph Lauren.

This is thus the answer to the question of many a collector who can't understand why the designer "didn't sign the jewelry:" The designer was not allowed to do so.

Other special guests who entertained at the dinner:

Alfred Weisberg, Director, Providence Jewelry Museum, updated the Conventioneers with a progress report on the future new home of the Museum, showing large plan drawings, and explaining the layout. The Museum will be housed with several other Rhode Island museums of importance to its history in a former power plant building in Providence. The restoration and redesign of the building is expected to be completed for grand opening of the museums some time in the year 2002.

Nadia Weisberg, who is also Mrs. Alfred Weisberg, followed with an introduction to her book : An Oral History of The Costume Jewelry Industry of Rhode Island, a labor of love on which she has been working for many years.