If Monet was built on restraint and Napier on longevity, D'Orlan's story is one of inheritance. This Canadian house produced some of the most finely finished costume jewellery of the later twentieth century — and it did so as the direct heir to one of New York's great names. For collectors who like a piece with real craftsmanship and a genuine story behind it, D'Orlan is one of the quiet pleasures of the field.
D'Orlan earrings
From protégé to proprietor
D'Orlan was founded in Toronto in 1957 by Maurice J. Bradden, who had trained as a protégé of the French-born jeweller Marcel Boucher. Boucher had established his own celebrated house, Marcel Boucher & Cie, in New York in 1937, and was renowned for finely modelled, naturalistic designs of a quality that set him apart from the costume-jewellery crowd.
When Bradden moved to Toronto and opened his own factory, the connection remained close: alongside his own brand, his company produced costume jewellery exclusively for the Boucher firm. From the very beginning, then, D'Orlan was steeped in the standards of one of the most respected names in the business.
Inheriting Marcel Boucher
Marcel Boucher died in 1966, and his widow Sandra — herself a designer — continued the company for a time. In 1979 the Boucher firm was sold to D'Orlan Industries of Toronto, and with it came something rather precious: Boucher's original moulds.
D'Orlan put them to good use, re-releasing a number of Boucher designs under its own name — among them the admired Mexican and ballet series, and a menagerie of figural animal brooches. The workmanship on these later pieces is genuinely high, and for collectors they offer a delightful proposition: the artistry of a great mid-century designer, executed to an exacting standard, in pieces that are far easier to find (and to afford) than original signed Boucher.
Craftsmanship: 22-carat plate and Austrian crystal
D'Orlan's reputation rests on the quality of its making. The house favoured fine Austrian (Swarovski) crystals, carefully hand-set, along with rich enamels and good faux pearls — the materials of a maker aiming well above the everyday.
Its plating became a particular point of pride. D'Orlan is known for a 22-carat triple-plated gold finish over a pewter base metal, a process developed to a high standard and prized for the warmth and consistency of its colour.
The Nina Ricci years
In 1984 D'Orlan formed a partnership with the Paris house of Nina Ricci — a name synonymous with French luxury in fashion and fragrance alike. It was through this collaboration that the celebrated triple-plating process was refined, and the association lent D'Orlan a thoroughly Parisian polish. Pieces from this partnership are often marked "D'Orlan Paris" or carry the Nina Ricci name, and they sit among the most desirable the house produced.
Reading the marks
Authentic pieces are signed D'Orlan, usually with a small © copyright symbol. The Nina Ricci collaboration pieces may additionally carry the Nina Ricci signature or a "D'Orlan Paris" mark — a useful clue both to dating (post-1984) and to a piece's pedigree.
Why collectors love it
D'Orlan occupies a lovely position in the vintage market: better made than most costume jewellery, carrying the design heritage of Marcel Boucher and the cachet of Nina Ricci, yet still wonderfully wearable and reasonably priced. The pieces most often found today date from the 1970s through to the early 2000s — the house wound down its production around 2006 — which makes it very much a collectable of its later decades.