Nolan Miller was born in Texas. He studied design at the Chouinard Art Institute (The California Institute of the Arts). Unable to immediately find a job as a fashion designer, Miller worked in a flower shop where he met Aaron Spelling. Spelling, impressed by Miller, provided him with the opportunity to design fashions for the film industry. He was then able to open his first couture design studio in 1957.
His talent and connections with Spelling quickly translated into work on many notable television and movie projects including creating the legendary fashions for the television show Dynasty. His budget was $35,000 a week so the Dynasty stars never repeated the same look. His glamourous fashions glittered with “Old Hollywood” style which included detailed, and matching accessories.
Miller’s list of fashion credentials includes designs for Charlie’s Angels, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Ginger’s gown in Gilligan’s Island, and Morticia Addam’s famous black dress in The Addams Family.
A pleasant person, Miller formed lasting friendships with many legendary Hollywood beauties especially Ann-Margret and Joan Collins.
Miller’s jewelry line for QVC reflected his love of Hollywood. The Nolan Miller QVC appearances were more than a sales pitch for costume jewelry. His shows treated the audience to his love of glamour by providing the QVC models with Nolan Miller couture gowns to showcase his jewelry. Then after enjoying the glamour of Nolan’s work, QVC gave their viewers the opportunity to own a piece of Nolan Miller’s jewelry.
Designer Mark Zunio worked with Nolan Miller on his couture fashions and QVC jewelry designs. He also helped to present Miller’s collection, and sometimes his own designs, on QVC. Zunio took over Miller’s costume jewelry line in 2011 after Nolan Miller’s retirement. Today Mark has his own fashion line including wedding gowns.
Unfortunately, Nolan Miller was diagnosed with lung cancer and retired from QVC. He died on June 6, 2012.
Passion:
Nolan Miller knew from a young age what he wanted to do with his life.
When I was about in the 5th or 6th grade I made up my mind I fell in love with movies and I thought I want to design gorgeous costumes for gorgeous stars and it was my lifelong ambition.
Nolan Miller Article, en.wikipedia.org
Miller studied historical fashions and the glamour of the early days of Hollywood when stars wore elegant and glamourous costumes. His designs, both in fashion and in jewelry, reflect his “classic” tastes. He was a gentle, well-liked personality who found joy in the opportunity’s life brought him.
Distinctive Design:
For costume jewelry collectors, Nolan Miller jewelry (especially the pins) celebrate the qualities admired by vintage costume jewelry collectors. A “classic” design is defined as a high-quality, outstanding design that endures for a long period of time. Many of Nolan Miller’s jewelry designs fit this definition.
Brand Trait: Nolan Miller’s designs are often inspired by fine jewelry or by classic costume jewelry from top-quality vintage designers.
Sometimes, the inspiration results in a close copy of a classic jewelry design. “Borrowing” ideas from other brands was, and continues to be, common in the jewelry business. Kenneth Lane was famous for doing this, too.
The following Nolan Miller pins are clearly influenced by vintage costume and fine jewelry designs.
Measuring 2 1/4″ the design of this Nolan Miller pin is similar to the famous Schreiner ruffle pin first offered by Schreiner in 1957. Keystone shaped spokes radiate from a decorative center in two overlapping rows. The result is an undulating or ruffled appearance. Miller called it the Distinctive Stone Burst Pin.Left: This is a signed, authentic Schreiner “ruffle” pin with black keystones and a faux pearl center. Right: The Miller pin on the right (called the Distinctive Stone Burst Pin) was inspired by this famous Schreiner design.Left: Back view showing the double oval rings. One ring has long keystones, the other shorter keystones so when the rings are connected, the spokes appear to undulate. Right: Most Nolan Miller boxes are gray, but some are blue like the original box shown here.Two close views of the undulating “ruffle” design.This example is signed Thailand and Nolan Miller. The back is rhodium plated.Nolan Miller called this the “Morning Glory Pin.” It measures 2″ and is a nearly identical design to Marcel Boucher’s design patent number 127,014 issued April 8, 1941.The Nolan Miller pin is slightly different with only one curling vine and one bud on the bottom.The enameling is beautifully done.It is rhodium plated and required three castings – floral body, inside stamen, and leaf/stems. This high-quality piece was made in China.Measuring a large 2 3/4″ this vintage style fruit salad basket pin strongly resembles vintage Mazer basket pins. In the 1920s Cartier created a line of Tutti Frutti jewelry designs using fine gemstones. Copies of Cartier’s design by costume jewelry designers have been made for decades. Nolan Miller designed this piece in honor of Bette Davis as part of a series of pins created for famous women. It is called the “Bette Davis Fruit Salad Pin”.Mazer basket design patent number 109898 issued in 1938.This beautiful design was cast all in one piece with special “frames” or cups to perfectly hold the plastic fruit salad faux gems. Details including small leaves, pearls, and rhinestones.
Nolan Miller called this 4 1/4″ pin the “Buenos Aires Flower”. The design strongly resembles unpatented Coro vermeil long-stemmed pins from the 1940s (not shown). The Coro design and the Miller design both feature rectangular golden topaz stones set on long wires and decorated by curving leaves.
Close view of the faceted stones and the Nolan Miller signature.Many vintage brands made lobster pins. This 3″ Nolan Miller lobster pin is titled the “Ruby Lobster Pin”. It features channel set stones on the tail and invisibly set stones for the body. Both of these methods for setting stones are difficult and found on high-quality costume jewelry designs by many famous brands. Left: Trifari clip with invisibly set stones. Right: Mazer bow pin with invisibly set stones.Boucher design with channel set stones.Most vintage pins with this level of detail require several castings held together by rivets. Using updated casting techniques this pin was cast all in one piece. This method results in a large, heavy pin but also a high-quality piece. Left: Close view of the invisibly set stones. Right: Nolan Miller signature.This classically designed 2 1/2″ Nolan Miller pin features triangular stones framed by crystal rhinestones with intertwining stems. The design is a replica of a 1967 era Harry Winston fine jewelry pin displayed in the Smithsonian. The Winston design features tanzanite stones first discovered in 1967.This is a simple, yet effective design cast all in one piece. The curving lines add movement to the design. The central point of focus is the triangular center stone.
The Nolan Miller Glamour Collection designs were executed using the highest quality 1990s – 2012 manufacturing techniques. Each piece is fully signed by Nolan Miller.
Innovative Design:
Brand Trait: Nolan Miller often created designs with a romantic motif like his series of swan pins (Swans are known to mate for life and represent everlasting love), flowers, and bows.
Called “The Swan Pin” this 3 1/4″ pin features two swans with their necks in the shape of a heart, holding a moveable heart charm in their beaks. It is a flat design which is unusual for Miller.
Brand Trait: Most Nolan Miller pins are three dimensional.
Called the “Pavé Rose Pin” this design is easy to find in the collectible market. It measures 3 1/2″ and features a rose with well-sculpted, textured stems. A ribbon of rhinestones gathers the stems together.
Brand Trait: Nolan Miller floral designs often feature a ribbon of rhinestones tying the stems together.
Brand Trait: Most Nolan Miller pins feature pavé rhinestones covering most of the metal.
This pin has lines of textured metal in both the front and back.Left: The textured veins on the leaves have the look of wood and are an interesting design feature. Right: The design of the rose with curving lines of metal defining the petal shapes, is similar to the Weiss rose pins shown below.Weiss rose pins with lines of metal defining the petals.This 2 1/2″ pin is called the “Classique Calla Lilly Pin”. It features a cream plastic flower with a pavéd stamin and stem. It is easy to wear due to the lightweight design and basic cream color.
Brand Trait: Many of Nolan Miller’s most original and interesting designs feature molded or manipulated plastic pieces. They add a contrast in texture and help to lighten the designs.
Nolan Miller designed many variations on the peacock motif. Left: “The Prideful Peacock” pin on the left is an original interpretation of a peacock pin due to the unusual color achieved with a combination of black diamond and green rhinestones with black enamel, all set in gold tone metal. Right: Titled simply “The Peacock Pin” this popular Miller pin features a colorful blue, purple, and green tail. There are two especially interesting design features in this 3 3/4″ peacock pin. First, the outline of the tail is a master class in the use of the square shape. Each square rhinestone is set in a double frame that raised just enough to rise above the lines of gold tone fringe. The second feature is the use of contrasting smooth oval shaped cabochon stones to decorate the tail.
The green, purple and blue colors are analogous colors, next to each other on the color wheel. Most analogous color schemes have one primary color and two secondary colors. The primary color in this scheme is blue. The secondary colors are purple and green.
This large pin was cast all in one piece.
Brand Trait: Generally, the colors of Nolan Miller’s design blend well with most fashions. There are exceptions including “The Peacock Pin” above and the “Los Cabos” deep purple enameled butterfly pin below.
Called “Los Cabos” this butterfly has a faceted green body and crystal rhinestones outlining the deep purple wings. Green and purple are secondary colors.Measuring 2 1/4″ this pin features striking purple enamel.This pin is called the “Pretty Papillion Pin”. It is a limited edition to 2500 pieces design. It measures 3 1/4″. Nolan Miller writes about it in the Certificate of Authenticity. “There are times when one of my pieces is so special that we cannot produce as many as I would like.”
Brand Trait: Sometimes Nolan Miller presented complex, limited-edition designs.
This design is especially colorful with mixed shapes of rhinestones covering the wings, two colors of resin enameling, pavé rhinestones on the body, all outlined in gold tone metal. Combining all of these elements would have been time-consuming and expensive to do in large quantities.
Titled “The Summer Shell Pin” this wonderful 2″ spiral design features pavé crystal rhinestones and a swirl of rose baguette rhinestones. The swirl of rose stones features negative space defined by a swirl of gold tone metal.Signed Nolan Miller and ChinaNolan Miller’s “Baguette Crystal Seahorse” is a classic seahorse design but well-executed. The use of baguette stones of various sizes is an expensive feature.The seahorse is signed Nolan Miller. The back view shows the lovely plating.
Quality Manufacturing:
In early QVC presentations, still available for viewing online, Miller talks about the quality of his jewelry confirming the following Brand Traits.
Brand Traits:
He used only the finest crystals simulating the look of diamonds. Many of the stones were custom made for the designs.
The jewelry, especially the pins, are three dimensional and beautiful from all sides. Every piece of metal is often covered with stones.
Some designs were cast in two or three pieces and plated in three different colors. Many of his pieces are rhodium plated.
In addition to these qualities, collectors appreciate Nolan Miller’s enameling, especially on his floral designs. Normally in pastel colors, each side of the three-dimensional designs, are enameled. Lines of plated metal are consistently and carefully wiped clean of any spillage.
All three of these Nolan Miller floral designs are exquisitely enameled. Center: “The Exotic Orchid” Right: “The Water Lily Pin” Left: “The Azure Iris Pin”Measuring 3 1/2″ this amazingly well-made and beautifully enameled “Azure Iris” pin is a work-of-art. Purple and blue enameling is carefully placed on the petals to give the piece depth. Pavé icing coats all of unenameled surfaces and shiny rhodium plated lines of metal separate the petals. Green enamel defines the leaves.
Brand Trait: Nolan Miller designs sometimes feature three analogous colors, two secondary colors and one primary color.
Close view of the lovely enameling.Titled “The Exotic Orchid” this piece is replete with interesting details. The golden enamel in the center blends perfectly with the green enamel. The top right and left leaves have expensive “cut outs”. They are decorated with a tower of baguette stones. Each curving petal is decorated with crystal pavé icing. The center bloom is decorated with another tower of baguette rhinestones. It is a wearable 2 1/2″ in size.Close views of the expensive details and Nolan Miller China signature.Titled “The Water Lily Pin”, this Nolan Miller design must be seen to be fully appreciated. Requiring multiple castings, every detail of this long-stemmed beauty is perfectly done. The coral enamel is decorated with pavé rhinestones. A graceful vine winds around the green stem.Although 2 3/4″ in length, this is a delicate pin to wear. It is signed Nolan Miller China.
One of the most popular Nolan Miller figural designs is the adorable squirrel pin.
Simply titled “The Squirrel Pin” this design features a wonderful plastic tail fit into a custom frame. He measures 2 1/2″ and is so well-balanced he can stand on his feet like a sculpture.He is signed Nolan Miller.
Brand Trait: Like the finest vintage costume jewelry designs, Miller’s higher-end designs include expensive details like hidden clasps. The “Bordeaux” set below is a good example of a high-end Nolan Miller set.
The beads in this “Bordeaux” set are deep burgundy glass beads all hand strung with red string. The triple strand necklace measures 31″ including the clasp. The bracelet is 7 1/2″ and the pierced earrings are 1″
It is unusual to find beads made after 1990 strung and knotted with colorful string. Pearls were still strung, but generally, not beads. This is an expensive detail and evidence of the care taken in the production of this set.
The fold-over clasps are decorated with ruby baguette stones that are invisible when closed.The earring design is a variation of the design of the necklace and bracelet clasps. All pieces are signed Nolan Miller.
Brand Trait: Nolan Miller necklace chains are often thin, in the way an affordable fine jewelry chain might be, but sturdy.
The oval-shaped “Malibu Pavé” pendant measures 2 1/4″ and comes with a thin silver tone 20″ chain. When worn it site below the collar bone.
The floral center decoration is slightly domed. It is set in a gun metal frame surrounded by black rhinestones. When worn, the black and white color scheme is eye-catching. It is also light weight and comfortable.
The pendant is signed Nolan Miller, China.The “SoHo Pansy” collection begins with a pink and purple enameled pansy. The basic pansy design is then varied to make a pin, pendant, bracelet, and earrings. (Bracelet and earrings not shown.)
Miller produced many, beautiful earrings with either pierced or clip backs. The stones and classic designs are good enough to compete with the look of fine jewelry.
Miller’s goal was to create jewelry that mimicked the look and quality of fine jewelry so well, it could be worn seamlessly with rare, fine jewelry.
Marketing:
Nolan Miller’s designs, including jewelry and accessories, were worn by famous stars in film, television, and in magazine advertising. He capitalized on his connection with them by creating pins in their honor for QVC. Each piece was given an appropriate name, a warranty card, and a brochure describing the piece and its connection to the star.
“The Ann Margret Rose” is a large 4 1/2″ piece featuring molded plastic roses simulating the look of carved coral, and green leaves with the look of jade.This pin is another example of a Nolan Miller pin comprised of frames designed to hold decorative elements.Close view of the faux coral buds and the Nolan Miller signature.“The Ava Rose” measuring 2 1/2″, was named in honor of actress Ava Gardner. It was an expensive piece to make because it required three castings to be riveted together. Every petal is coated with tiny crystals.
Miller also offered “extras” with his QVC jewelry. Sometimes the customer received two pins for one price. Matching earrings were offered as an “up sell” for an additional fee.
This “Country Garden” set included two 2 1/2″ flower pins with different designs in different colors. This set includes a coral and beige pin. For an additional price 3/4″ clip earrings were available. They are all signed Nolan Miller China and include beautiful rhinestone details and enameling.The “Country Garden” design was also available in gray and cream colors.
Tiny charms of his figural pins were sometimes included with the pin or offered as an “up sell” for an additional fee. Of course, he sold the appropriate bracelet to display the charms.
Left to right: The Pavé rose and charm, The Ruby Lobster pin and charm, The Classique Cala Lilly and charm, The Heron Pin and charm, and The Lara pin and charm.
Signatures:
There are four known Nolan Miller signatures. The order in which they were used and the dates is unclear.
Nolan Miller with the copyright symbol and no country of origin suggests the jewelry was made in the United States, likely Rhodes, Island.
Many designs were made in China or Thailand.
Some jewelry, especially earrings, are marked with his initials “NM” with the copyright symbol and when applicable the county of origin.
Conclusion:
This is a sampling of Nolan Miller jewelry available today. It remains in good condition, so it is easy to select a favorable design. Some designs are rarer than others, including the Goddess collection and the Bordeaux collection.
Note: To help preserve the original names for Nolan Miller designs a list of designs with names is available under the Information tab. As more designs and names come available, this tab will be routinely updated. For example, the following four pins are shown in the Information list and not included in the article above.
The Elite Bow PinThe Heron PinUnknown name baby chick pinLara Pin
