Sunday, August 28, 2011

Larry Vrba - Jewelry Designer / Nebraska Born

While helping unload the master's drums from his vehicle this morning, it dawned on me to try and pick one item from the 'treasures' in our garage to put on eBay to sell.  Digging is never fun, so I diverted my attentions to my "Karen Box" - the place where all things "Karen" should be stored.  Found high school junk, grade school report cards, the stuffed bear in remembrance of our first grandchild who went to heaven before his/her birth.  But the most surprising find was my grandmother's jewelry which I had thought was long lost.
Is this a grungy looking box or what?  But when I laid my eyes on this, my heart just started singing and remembering my Grandma Smith always brings a smile.  When the box was opened, everything was a jumbled mess and there was more in there than just grandma's jewelry - but this is the straightened up view of what she allowed me to have back in the late 1970's -
Some basic and classic jewelry pieces!  Not sure where she got the black beads, white beads or the green jeweled necklaces, but the bottom two necklaces were designed by her grandson (my cousin), Larry Vrba, and given to her by him in the 1970's.  During the 70's, Larry was a designer for Miriam Haskell Jewelry in New York and I would assume to guess these two pieces were his design work.

We probably haven't seen Larry personally for over 30 years and have lost track of him and what he is doing these days.  But there are some interesting links to some of the items he has designed on eBay and other places that carry his designs:

Opulent Style
Morning Glory Antiques
Art of Style
Milky Way Jewels
Jennifer Lynn's Timeless Jewelry
Casa Frela Gallery (with photo of Larry in 2009)
.... and many items on eBay...

What a treat it was to find a photo of Larry that's only a couple years old!  His designs are over-the-top and just a total JOY to look at!  Talk about creative - this man's full of creativity.

And to think, Larry came from small town Nebraska - Schuyler to be exact.  And our home is blessed to have two of his designs residing here.

2 comments:

Annemarie's Haakblog said...

Hi! I wanted to let you know that my blog has moved to a new URL. Now that you are a follower of my old blog, perhaps you would like to follow my new one as well? There’s also a link party going on every Saturday. I would love it if you’d hop over and add something. Have a lovely day! Annemarie

Anonymous said...

What an amazing find. I am so happy that you were able to find the lost treasures from your Grandmother. I was very close to my Grandmother who passed many years ago, but I was blessed with a wonderful piece of jewelry that I wear everyday.
Wishing you more Blessings~
Kristi