Cerrito Jewelry

I have come across only three pieces of jewelry made by a company called CERRITO. 

One was this lovely rose brooch:

Another was this Orchid brooch:

And a third was a gorgeous Dogwood blossom brooch that I gave directly to my mother and didn't take a picture of. (Pity)

According to the Illusion Jewels website, the ©Cerrito signature is for Cerrito Jewelry Limited, Inc out of Johnston, Rhode Island, and they started production in the late 1970s. The above mentioned orchid brooch is also stamped with a year (1982). 

There really is not a whole lot of information out there about Cerrito jewelry. What I have found is that Cerrito still makes jewelry and still exists. (Some business websites list their trademark as "active" while others list it as "inactive.") Although I have not seen any Cerrito jewelry advertised for sale here in the U.S, there was an old New York Times article from April 16, 1989 that discusses a trade organzation founded by "John Cerrito, president of Cerrito Jewelry Ltd." whose purpose was to cultivate foreign business.

Regardless of their current status, the jewelry that I have come across has been well made, and very realistic. The dogwood blossom brooch was so lifelike, I expected it to blow away in the breeze! (You'll have to trust me on this, as again, I didn't get pictures of it.)  The orchid brooch above also looks exactly like a Cymbidium Orchid! 



Photo from Fiftyflowers.com

I just wish that I had more information about the company, their history, and their inspiration!


Websites used as resources for this post:

IllusionJewels

New York Times