Dates of Operation

1963 – Present

Brief Biography

Kenneth Lane was a trained designer. He graduated from the Rhodes Island School of Design in 1954. Soon, in the early 1960s Lane was designing shoes for Christian Dior based in Paris and then Bill Blass, Norman Norell, and Arnold Scaasi in the United States.

Lane’s journey into the world of costume jewelry began with jewelry designs created to match Scaasi’s shoes. His designs were well received so he continued to design and make jewelry. For the most part, Lane marketed his early designs through the connections he built with department store buyers while designing shoes.

Saks Fifth Avenue has been my greatest supporter since the beginning…Saks asked me if they could use my name exclusively, I called my stuff “K.J.L.” for other stores and “Kenneth Jay Lane” for Saks. For years, Saks advertised me as “Our Own Kenneth Lane.”

Lane, Kenneth Jay, and Harrice Simmons Miller. Faking It. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1996, p.21.

Lane’s reputation as a designer earned him the position of design director for all of Hattie Carnegie. In that capacity, Lane was indoctrinated into the details of jewelry manufacturing. Lane writes,

Working with Hattie Carnegie was really my education for producing jewelry and learning all the aspects of manufacturing.

Lane, p. 24

From the beginning, Lane’s eye-catching jewelry designs were appreciated by celebrities, columnists, and fashion magazines. He was a legendary designer long before 1991 when he began selling on QVC.

Kenneth Lane died in 2017 at age 85. His jewelry legacy continues online at www.kennethjaylane.com under the direction of his former Vice President Chris Sheppard.

Passion

In his autobiography Faking It Kenneth J. Lane writes about his love for jewelry.

Before I ever thought of becoming a jeweler, I went to a Red Cross Ball in Monte Carlo – you can’t imagine the jewelry!

Lane, p. 44

He always admired and appreciated beautiful jewelry.

I’ve always thought that great jewelry is art that becomes reality when worn by people.

Lane, p. 29

Distinctive Design

Lane possessed the eye of an artist and found inspiration for his designs all over the world and in everyday objects. His extensive travels in India inspired many of his designs. He writes:

My inspirations came not only from Indian jewelry, but from what I saw at every turn, which was uniquely Indian.

Lane, p. 59

Kenneth J. Lane was a prolific designer that created jewelry inspired by Art Deco, Byzantine, Renaissance, and even by English drawer pulls (his lion/door knocker jewelry designs). He was also inspired by fine jewelry owned by prominent women including the Duchess of Windsor. Some of his most iconic designs include:

• Animal motif bracelets
• Large necklaces
• Authentic gemstone colors inspired by his travels and education in the colors of the finest gemstones in the world
• Whimsical, figural designs
• Long, earrings
• Designs imitating fine jewelry
• Designs inspired by different eras

Innovative

Kenneth Lane innovatively insisted that the colors of his costume jewelry stones imitated the colors of the finest gemstones in the world. In his book, he credits himself with several innovations including being the first jeweler to make enameled bangles (Faking It p. 42) and inventing the spring bracelet using an industrial steel spring. (Faking It p. 99).

Quality Manufacturing

Early in his jewelry career Lane educated himself on manufacturing methods and he insisted on quality. He writes:

Once you’ve changed a sample model sixteen times, it doesn’t matter with whom you’re working even if you’re paying them by the hour. They start screaming and yelling and refuse to make one more tiny little change…No, no! I say it matters terribly. It’s the difference between life and no life.

Faking It, Lane, p. 43

Marketing

From the beginning of his career Kenneth Lane was well connected to the New York fashion world, to prominent wealthy women, and to high-profile Hollywood stars that were often photographed wearing his jewelry. His customers included Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Nancy Regan and Jackie Kennedy Onassis. He knew the jewelry buyers and the store owners. He also was friends with Diane Vreeland who was the Fashion Editor for Harpers Bazaar and editor-in-chief for Vogue.

In addition, beginning in 1991 and lasting for over 20 years, Kenneth Lane was a pioneer in selling his jewelry on QVC. He also partnered with Avon and the Metropolitan Museum of Art to sell his work.

GALLERY

It is difficult and unreliable to date Kenneth Lane jewelry solely by the design of the marks. Kenneth Lane continued to make a jewelry design for as long as it would sell. The jewelry in the gallery below is a small selection of the huge output of Kenneth Lane. It is sorted by signature with approximate but likely unreliable dates.

K.J.L. (1960s –1970s) no copyright symbol

Center copyright 1960s – 1970s

Brand Trait: Lane often used plastic pieces combined with metal elements in his designs. His choice of high-end plastics is visually so good, it is hard to distinguish it from glass. Jewelry designs with these plastic elements are lighter in weight, so especially with long earrings, the elegant plastic is a welcome feature.

It is unknown why this piece is signed Kenneth Lane and the number “2”.

Brand Trait: Lane often polishes the metal outlines on the front of a design.

Kenneth Lane with the left copyright 1990s

1990s Left copyright

The design consists of metal bows set in various directions and dangling pavé pendants. It is an original, distinctive design not only for the huge size, but also for the detailed design and original adaption of the bow motif. The center stone in this example is black; however, it was also available with either crystal or black diamond center stones. Pendant earrings (dating to 1965) and a huge bib necklace were also made in this 18th century design.

1990s Left copyright

1990s Left copyright

Matching set with two signatures

The following set has two different signatures, yet they match in design, construction, and materials. It is unknown why this happens, but it does illustrate that dating Kenneth Lane jewelry solely by signature style is challenging.

Necklace 1990s signature

Matching earrings 1960s – 1970s signature

The faux jade elements are plastic. Page 60 of Faking It shows similar elements called “cast plastic jade”. All pieces feature these plastic jade pieces outlined by crystal stones.

Author’s note: I’ve seen matching earrings with an alternative design consisting only of the round disks.

Brand Trait: Lane traveled extensively and often incorporated the designs of world cultures including China and India in his work.

Author’s Note: I suspect the necklace and the earrings date to the 1990s. The earrings are signed on the clip backs that may have been used for many, many years.

Matching set with different materials and signatures

The stones in the necklace are glass. The stones in the earrings are plastic. It is not surprising the earrings are signed dating to the 1990s and the necklace is signed also from the 1990s.

The design of the necklace and earrings match even though the stones in the earrings are plastic.

Brand Trait: Lane often incorporated large, rhinestone studded links of chain in his designs.

Left Copyright KJL no periods 1990s or newer, also used for QVC pieces

Featured in his book Faking It the caption reads,

Plastic biwa and baroque pearls, black plastic rondelles, coral and elongated jade beads, black enamel clasp with glass jade, gold plated metal.

Lane, p. 111

Biwa is a type of freshwater pearl found in Japan.

This necklace is also shown in Shamelessly Jewelry from Kenneth Jay Lane by Nancy N. Schiffer.

This is very Deco, with coral, which I love. Original, you know, idea. Worn by a lot of very chic ladies like Nan Kempner.

Schiffer, Nancy N. Shamelessly Jewelry from Kenneth Jay Lane. Atglen, Pa: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2007. p. 97.

Nan Kempner was a well-known New York philanthropist.

Left Copyright KJL no periods 1990s or newer, also used for QVC pieces

Copyright symbol KJL

An earlier 1966 version of this pear motif set is shown on page 82 of Faking It. The caption reads,

This adaptation of the Baroque pearl suggesting an anatomical part really worked for this pear. The most successful design of all my renaissance endeavors. It was resurrected in the mid-1980s in cast plastic and in every possible flavor, although the pearl remained the most popular.

Lane, p. 82

This passage identifies the pearl design shown here as a Baroque motif, renaissance design done in cast plastic.

Author’s Note: Lane’s practice of “resurrected” his older designs helps to explain some of the confusion in dating his pieces.

Left Copyright KJL no periods 1990s or newer, also used for QVC pieces

Left Copyright KJL no periods 1990s or newer, also used for QVC pieces

Sometimes Lane was inspired by adorable little figural statures he found in his travels. The circus elephant pin was inspired by a tiny figural Lane admired. He made a mold of the figurine and then cast it as a pin. Several of his figural designs were made this way. In his book Faking It Lane describes how he found the elephant.

…the elephant from some tacky souvenir shop … [was] found during a lunch break from QVC… That is what I call having the “eye.”

Lane, p. 84

Design Trait: Lane designed many adorable figural pieces in his long career, so many, he is known for them.

Left Copyright KJL no periods 1990s or newer, also used for QVC pieces

Author’s Note: This pin is featured in Madeleine Albright’s book Read My Pins. The introduction to the book was written by David Revere McFadden, Chief Curator, Museum of Arts and Design, New York. He puts into words what so many of us loyal collectors feel about our personally curated collections. He writes,

Of modest intent and manufacture, Secretary Albright’s pins are a kind that anyone could possess and wear…To assemble so notable a collection of pins takes something much more elusive and significant than money – it takes a magical combination of a collector’s eye, which can spot and home in on its target, and an ability to recognize the communicative potential of what might be deemed ordinary things.

Albright, Madeleine. Read My Pins Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box: New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2009. Introduction by David Revere McFadden. p. 12.

Everyone needs a Kenneth Lane moth in their collection if only to remember these beautifully written sentiments about the “eye” of a collector.

Author’s Note: This design has since been made in other colors.

Left Copyright KJL no periods 1990s or newer, also used for QVC pieces

Versatile designs with a clever mechanism sold well on QVC. The oval-shaped frames measure 3/4″ in length.

Left Copyright KJL no periods 1990s or newer, also used for QVC pieces

KJL no copyright symbol uncertain date ~ 1970s – 1990s

K.J.L. for Avon 1986 through 2000

Visually, the exquisite enameling is the star of the show here, but Lane wasn’t satisfied. He added an innovative, versatile element to this design. Four smaller pearls are strung at just the right place in the necklace so the clasp can capture them. This design adds versatility to the way the beads can be worn. The three photos below show three ways the same design can be worn.

K.J.L. for Avon 1986 – 2000

The vibrant resin stones have a fire deep inside them. The colors red, blue, and green are evenly spaced on the color wheel. They are called triadic colors. It is a highly contrasting color scheme. Lane masterfully places these three colors in the body of the necklace. Purple is next to red on the color wheel so its placement at the bottom of the necklace coordinates with the red without drawing the eye’s focus away from the center.

K.J.L. for Avon 1986 – 2000

Kenneth Lane creations for Avon are some of his best designs. He was famous for panther pins and made many variations on the panther motif. The earrings, clasp, and pin all feature crystal, black, and emerald rhinestones. The 8-strands of beads are faceted black glass. The innovative clasp is designed to be worn to the side. That way, the weight of the beads securely holds the ring in the panther’s mouth.

Brand Trait: Generally, Kenneth Lane’s designs for others, including Avon, exhibit the same quality design and manufacturing as pieces sold under his brand.

KJL with the copyright symbol and Thailand, or China

The date of the China and Thailand pieces is unknown; however, the marks are found on contemporary designs and many of the designs sold on QVC

Each stone, no matter the shape, is perfectly fitted into a polished gold tone frame.

QVC KJL China

In Faking It Kenneth Lane discusses the spring style bracelet.

I invented the spring bracelet using an industrial steel spring. This works wonderfully because they are very easy to take on and off, cling to the wrist, and fit almost everyone.

Lane, p. 99

QVC KJL China

KJL Thailand

This design is mostly symmetrical with some asymmetry in the petals of the center flower.

KJL Thailand

Conclusion

In his book Faking It, Kenneth Lane refers to himself as a “jeweler” and he WAS a master jeweler of wonderful, what he called, “fake” jewelry. He created quality designs available to collectors today at many price points. Vintage Lane jewelry is an excellent brand to consider for beginning and immediate collectors. The high-end sets can be costly, but they continue to rise in value. Especially collectible are the early designs from the 1960s – 1980s, the pre-QVC designs. The QVC pieces are also good quality in terms of design and manufacturing; however, there are more of them in the secondary market.