The Unique, Bold Designs of “America’s Court Jeweler”
Born in New York City in 1881, Seaman Schepps created an eponymous jewelry house; Schepps came to be known as “America’s Court Jeweler” for his unique, bold designs, worn by the country’s most prominent society families.
Schepps, the son of immigrants, came from humble beginnings: he would sit outside the boutique of quintessential New York jeweler David Webb and sketch drawings for his own designs. He left Manhattan’s Lower East Side around the turn of the 20th century, finding work as a traveling salesman in Los Angeles and San Francisco. It was in California where he opened his first jewelry store, “The Virginia Studios,” named for his eldest daughter.
When Schepps returned to New York in 1921 with his wife and two children, he opened a store on 6th Avenue, near the Algonquin Hotel. A few years later, Schepps expanded to a second location, but the stock market crash of 1929 forced him to shutter both shops. The sudden forced closure lasted five years, during which time he focused on his business strategy.
When Schepps reopened in 1934 at a new location on Madison Avenue, he had developed his own exclusive jewelry designs. Featuring bold colors and uncommon materials and motifs, these innovative and ahead-of-their-time designs would define his style for decades to come, and earn him the adoration of the wealthy and influential.
A three-month trip to Hong Kong provided Schepps new inspiration for textures and styles—from rough branch coral and decorative ivory to intricately carved chess pieces—which further influenced his jewelry designs.
Pieces by Schepps are often oversized and dramatic, created during an era when the fashion of the day called for standout accessories. However, Schepps was more interested in shapes and the rather unorthodox mixing of semiprecious colored gemstones, which—while not necessarily extremely valuable—were prized by the artisan for the whimsical designs they yielded.
Schepps’ creations were typically heavy, made with natural elements blended with gold, and meant to be worn as statement pieces. Schepps quickly found admirers and patrons in celebrities and artists, including Katherine Hepburn, Coco Chanel, and Andy Warhol. Such prestigious clientele meant that his uniquely designed, one-of-a-kind pieces often landed in the pages of Vogue.
Schepps gained enormous popularity among the American social elite—including President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Mellon and Rockefeller families—as well as British royalty (including the Duchess of Windsor). Upon his death in 1972, the company was passed on to his daughter, Patricia Schepps Vaill, who continued her father’s tradition and created jewelry solely in his style. The house’s archive includes 5,000 detailed renderings and 650 molds for Schepps’ brilliant, innovative jewelry designs.