Oscar Heyman: an epic illustrated journey

The lavishly illustrated history published by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) follows the firm’s growth, from its origin as a Russian immigrant family enterprise in New York City to its establishment as an important ally of major retailers throughout the global jewelry trade.

For more than a century, Oscar Heyman & Brothers  has been renowned for designing meticulously crafted adornments for some of America's most elite jewelry houses. It all started when the company's founding brothers, Oscar and Nathan, after apprenticing at a workshop that produced high-style ornaments for the Russian court jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé before leaving Eastern Europe for New York City, decided to establish their own firm, distinctive for vibrant and modern designs, flawless manufacture, technological sophistication and high-quality materials. An amazing legacy that now enjoys unprecedented exposure thanks to a brand new book by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA).

The book, titled “Oscar Heyman: The Jewelers' Jeweler”, is the first illustrated history of the firm, an epic journey through its extensive clientele, a list that includes the likes of Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Harry Winston, Van Cleef & Arpels, Shreve, Crump & Low and Black, Starr & Frost. Enhanced with new photography of vintage and contemporary pieces, as well as design drawings from the firm's archives that are works of art in their own right, the book reveals Oscar Heyman's important role in the story of high-style American jewelry. Available on April 1, 2017 in the MFA Shops, retail bookstores and online, Oscar Heyman: The Jewelers' Jeweler is produced by MFA Publications, the publishing imprint of the Museum. It was authored by Yvonne J. Markowitz, Rita J. Kaplan and Susan B. Kaplan Curator Emerita of Jewelry at the MFA, and Elizabeth Hamilton, an independent writer and researcher and a graduate of Parsons the New School for Design/Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

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The book is one of several titles dedicated to jewelry that have been produced by MFA Publications in recent years, which also include Jewels of Ancient Nubia, Artful Adornments: Jewelry from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Jewels of Trabert & Hoeffer-Mauboussin, Jewelry by Artists: In the Studio 1940-2000and Imperishable Beauty: Art Nouveau Jewelry. Support for this publication was generously provided by Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf and Oscar Heyman & Brothers, Inc.