Photo 390 of 434, RFI's FROM the JEWELRY RING MEMBERS

"I am but one of the many re-sellers who had the pleasure of personally knowing the man behind "Jewels by Stanlee" ... who has now passed on. Stanlee Zukowski (an engineer-turned-entrepreneur)owned a wholesale jewelry store in Bristol, Connecticut for 40 years called "Jewels by Stanlee". He had showrooms in Maine, Atlanta, two in NYC and representatives in Dallas. He sold to Altman's Burdines, May Company, Filenes, Sage Allen, Brown Thompson and D&L as well as hospitals, gift shops and boutiques. Stanlee sold Florenza and other quality costume jewelry designer names as well as unsigned bling. He placed his gold foil tag on all of the jewelry he sold - or pretty much most of it I suppose and of course the jewelry he himself designed. The tag reads "Jewels by Stanlee". When I purchased any signed jewelry from Stanlee back then (Florenza, etc.) I removed his foil tags and tossed them. I thought I saved one of his tags for reference but will have to dig deep to try and find it. It stands to reason that Stanlee knew many of the CJ designers and owners on a personal and social level. He shared some stories with me about Dan Kasoff of Florenza. Stanlee is responsible for inventing the Mood Ring - however - he said the patent rights did not protect him so it was copied but he also said he had an edge on the Mood Ring before it was copied and that they couldn't make them fast enough - he sold millions of them. That's why you will read or hear other claims about who invented the Mood Ring. At the age of 80 Stanlee had a heart attack and a quadruple bypass. While recuperating in the hospital he began to sketch a jewelry design - the heart bypass pin - these were sold in hospitals all across the country. It was in the shape of a zipper partially open and in the center was a heart shaped Burgundy garnet and the pull on the zipper had a number that would indicate how many bypasses the wearer had. There were pins for women and tie tacks and lapel pins for men. He told me all this on the phone one time - and he also sent me a copy of the article that was published in the Herald Press (Sunday Business) on April 2, 2000. He also designed a pin for nurses in Coronary P.T. in Bristol Hospital. Stanlee was a business contact and then became a dear friend of mine. My only regret is that Dennis and I never took him up on his numerous offers to come visit and stay with him and his wife Mary in their home. I looked back in my records and October 2004 was my last written correspondence to him and wife. I remember Mary called me when I was at a Christmas party to tell me he had passed on. That would have been December 2004. Stanlee was a very, very kind man. Sorry this was so long! And if I get some free time I will make a copy of the article I quoted from and will post it on my research page for future reference." --Jan Gaughan, 03/22/09


ANSWER: JEWELRY WHOLESALER Has anyone ever heard of Jewels by Stanlee? I did a search and came up with some contact info for a private company out of Dallas called Stan-Lee Corp. that manufactures jewelry, but their phone numbers are disconnected. Here’s a link to a necklace with paper tag Nona Grampp Add Comment (2 total) "There was a man in CT who put his name on the tag of the jewelry he sold. His tag read "Jewels by Stanlee". So if it is the same one, it is not the name of the manufacturer but the "name" of the wholesaler. You can email me and I can give you the name in a local jeweler who Could provide some additional information." --Polly Curtiss, 03/22/09 "I am but one of the many re-sellers who had the pleasure of personally knowing the man behind "Jewels by Stanlee" ... who has now passed on. Stanlee Zukowski (an engineer-turned-entrepreneur)owned a wholesale jewelry store in Bristol, Connecticut for 40 years called "Jewels by Stanlee". He had showrooms in Maine, Atlanta, two in NYC and representatives in Dallas. He sold to Altman's Burdines, May Company, Filenes, Sage Allen, Brown Thompson and D&L as well as hospitals, gift shops and boutiques. Stanlee sold Florenza and other quality costume jewelry designer names as well as unsigned bling. He placed his gold foil tag on all of the jewelry he sold - or pretty much most of it I suppose and of course the jewelry he himself designed. The tag reads "Jewels by Stanlee". When I purchased any signed jewelry from Stanlee back then (Florenza, etc.) I removed his foil tags and tossed them. I thought I saved one of his tags for reference but will have to dig deep to try and find it. It stands to reason that Stanlee knew many of the CJ designers and owners on a personal and social level. He shared some stories with me about Dan Kasoff of Florenza. Stanlee is responsible for inventing the Mood Ring - however - he said the patent rights did not protect him so it was copied but he also said he had an edge on the Mood Ring before it was copied and that they couldn't make them fast enough - he sold millions of them. That's why you will read or hear other claims about who invented the Mood Ring. At the age of 80 Stanlee had a heart attack and a quadruple bypass. While recuperating in the hospital he began to sketch a jewelry design - the heart bypass pin - these were sold in hospitals all across the country. It was in the shape of a zipper partially open and in the center was a heart shaped Burgundy garnet and the pull on the zipper had a number that would indicate how many bypasses the wearer had. There were pins for women and tie tacks and lapel pins for men. He told me all this on the phone one time - and he also sent me a copy of the article that was published in the Herald Press (Sunday Business) on April 2, 2000. He also designed a pin for nurses in Coronary P.T. in Bristol Hospital. Stanlee was a business contact and then became a dear friend of mine. My only regret is that Dennis and I never took him up on his numerous offers to come visit and stay with him and his wife Mary in their home. I looked back in my records and October 2004 was my last written correspondence to him and wife. I remember Mary called me when I was at a Christmas party to tell me he had passed on. That would have been December 2004. Stanlee was a very, very kind man. Sorry this was so long! And if I get some free time I will make a copy of the article I quoted from and will post it on my research page for future reference." --Jan Gaughan, 03/22/09
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