Midweek Modness: Morley-Crimi Cuff

Found this cool, 1950s copper cuff in a bag of jewellery at the St. Lawrence Market last Sunday. It is signed MORLEY-CRIMI HAND WROUGHT. It is a piece very much of its time: the cuff has a hammered finish and the lily motif is comprised of wire and crimped pieces of copper giving it a somewhat abstract effect.

Morley and Kimi Crimi were Canadian artisans who created copper and sterling silver jewelry. Crimped and coiled lily and musical notation were popular themes in their jazzy work. According to an ad in the 1953 Jewelers Buyers Guide, their slogan was “Designs in Simple Lines” and they had a showroom on Fifth Ave. in New York City. I also found a business directory record for a Morley-Crimi INc in New York State from 1976, but the trail goes cold there.