Before Women’s History Month escapes us in 2026, I wanted to properly write a homage to one of the mothers of 20th century costume jewelry, Miriam Haskell. She also happened to be a sister Hoosier.

While many celebrate the “golden age” of costume jewelry through names like Alice Caviness or Hattie Carnegie, the structural blueprint for the female-led jewelry empire was drawn decades earlier by Miriam Haskell. Long before Caviness launched her company in the late 1940s, or Carnegie expanded her fashion house into an accessory line, Haskell was already navigating Manhattan as a solo founder and CEO.

Her story is not just one of aesthetics — it is a study in quiet rebellion. In an era when women were legally and socially barred from the foundations of business, Haskell didn’t shout for a seat at the table; she simply built her own table, her own room, and eventually, her own skyscraper.

The Indiana Merchant: The Tell City Foundation

To understand the entrepreneur, one must look at the girl from Tell City, Indiana. Born in 1899, Miriam was the daughter of Russian-Jewish immigrants who ran a local dry-goods store. This environment served as her unofficial ‘MBA.’ While her peers were being steered toward domesticity, Haskell was watching the gears of a retail business turn.

She learned the logic of inventory, the necessity of a reliable supply chain, and the psychology of the consumer from her parents. (Often, entrepreneurs beget more entrepreneurs.) She saw firsthand that a merchant’s reputation was their only true currency. This Midwestern foundation of grit and practical management became her competitive advantage in the shark-infested waters of New York real estate. She didn’t just move to the city to be “creative”; she moved to be a merchant.

The First Among Equals: A Timeline of Leadership

Haskell was the “foremother” who proved the model worked. Her entrepreneurial timeline reveals just how rare she was as a woman leading a standalone firm:

• 1926: The Founder. Miriam Haskell opens Le Bijou de l’Heure in the McAlpin Hotel. She is a 26-year-old woman from Indiana running a flagship boutique in one of the world’s largest hotels.
• 1930s: The Contemporary. Hattie Carnegie begins to dominate the fashion scene, but her jewelry was largely an extension of an existing dress empire. Haskell built hers from the bead up as a specialized house.
• Late 1940s: The Successors. Alice Caviness launches her company. By this time, Haskell had already survived the Great Depression, moved to Fifth Avenue, and become a household name in Hollywood.

The “Quiet Rebellion” of the $500 Startup

Haskell’s move to New York in 1924 with only $500 was an act of economic defiance. At a time when a woman’s financial identity was often tethered to a father or husband, Haskell’s independence was a quiet rebellion. She didn’t wait for permission to enter the industry; she utilized the “system architecture” she learned in Tell City to engineer a new category of luxury.

She understood that the modern, working woman of the 1920s wanted style that signaled professional status, not just inherited wealth. By rebranding “costume” jewelry as an aspirational art form, she shifted the entire psychology of American retail.

The CEO’s Masterstroke: Radical Delegation

Haskell’s most modern entrepreneurial move was her partnership with creative director Frank Hess. In an era where women were expected to be the “craftsy” ones while men handled the “serious business,” Haskell flipped the script. She was the CEO; he was the talent. This allowed her to focus on scaling the business, securing high-end distribution at Saks Fifth Avenue, and navigating the supply chain crises of World War II. When metal was restricted for the war effort, she didn’t close her doors; she pivoted to wood, shells, and plastics, proving her agility as a wartime executive.

The Collector’s Responsibility: Preserving a Legacy

Today, Miriam Haskell is more than a vintage find — it is a highly coveted asset. Pieces from the “unsigned” era or the iconic Russian-gold filigree designs command significant respect (and prices) in the market. However, because of their intricate, hand-wired construction, these pieces require a specific type of stewardship.

For the modern reseller, a “broken” Haskell is a historical mandate:

• The Preservation Ethic: If you find a piece with broken wires or missing seed pearls, do your best to find a specialist who can fix and preserve it. Never use modern commercial glues; they can destroy the secret-formula “Russian Gold” plating and the delicate coating of the signature baroque pearls.
• Highly Coveted: Even today, the “Haskell look” is the gold standard for collectors. Preserving the hand-manipulated integrity of the original construction is what keeps the value — and the history — alive.

The Haskell Entrepreneurial Ledger

Conclusion: The First Lady of Filigree

Miriam Haskell was a woman who navigated a male-dominated industry by being the architect of her own destiny. From the aisles of a dry-goods store in Indiana all the way to the height of Fifth Avenue fashion, she proved that a woman could lead with both an eye for beauty and a mind for the bottom line. Her legacy is a reminder that sometimes, the most effective revolution is the one built piece by piece, wire by wire, until an empire stands where there was once only a dream.

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Erin L. Albert is a fan of Miriam, a sister Hoosier, and definitely not a restoration expert of Miriam Haskell jewelry. She leaves that to the professionals. She still, however, deeply admires her, her entrepreneurial pioneering, and her jewelry.

Imagine a time when costume jewelry rivalled fine gems in brilliance and artistry. A time when leading American fashion houses, from Schiaparelli to Kramer, sourced their most dazzling creations from meticulous Austrian workshops. Mid-Century Modern (MCM) Austrian flower brooches, with their vibrant enameling, innovative crystals, and intricate craftsmanship, stand as a testament to this remarkable era. More than just accessories, they are miniature works of art that capture the spirit of an age and continue to enchant collectors today.

The Austrian Connection: Where American Design Met Alpine Craft

In the post-World War II boom, the American fashion industry was booming, demanding high-quality costume jewelry to complement sophisticated trends. For exceptional crystal work and artisanal finishes, they turned to Austria, a country with a centuries-old tradition of glassmaking and precise craftsmanship. It wasn’t uncommon for designers like Elsa Schiaparelli, known for her bold, surrealist flair, to “job out” specific designs to specialized Austrian workshops.

Similarly, houses like Kramer and Weiss, renowned for their intricate rhinestone jewelry, leveraged Austrian expertise to achieve unparalleled sparkle. This dynamic exchange fostered a unique fusion: bold American design sensibility met the refined execution of Austrian masters. You might even find identical brooch designs, one marked with an American house’s name and another simply stamped “Made in Austria,” subtly hinting at this collaborative production model.

Where in Austria Were They Made?

1. Wattens, Tyrol: The Source of the “Sparkle”

Nestled in the alpine region of Tyrol, the town of Wattens served as the industrial heartbeat of the Austrian jewelry trade. This was the headquarters of the Swarovski family, whose massive factories specialized in the production of high-leaded “raw” crystals. Swarovski was founded in 1895, and is still there today. Utilizing Daniel Swarovski’s revolutionary electric cutting technology, this site churned out millions of precision-faceted stones that were then distributed to smaller workshops across the country. Every brilliant “fire” found in an Austrian brooch began its life here, where chemistry and mountain hydropower met to create the world’s most famous glass.

2. Enns, Upper Austria: The Workshop of the Displaced

Following the borders shifts of post-WWII Europe, thousands of expert jewelry artisans were displaced from Gablonz (the historic jewelry capital of Bohemia). Many of these refugees resettled in the town of Enns, establishing a vibrant manufacturing district known as “Neugablonz.” These workshops were the hands-on engines of production; here, the “jobbing” work for American brands like Kramer and Weiss took place. If your brooch features hand-painted “sugar” enamel or complex floral “units,” it likely originated from the skilled benches of these transplanted Bohemian masters.

3. Vienna: The Gateway of Design and Export

While the crystals were cut in the Alps and the pins were assembled in Upper Austria, Vienna remained the sophisticated “brain” of the operation. As the national capital, it housed the design ateliers that collaborated with Parisian couture houses like Dior and Schiaparelli. Vienna was also the logistics nerve center; the major export firms located here managed the complex shipping routes that sent finished Austrian floral pieces to high-end American department stores. It was the bridge where Alpine craftsmanship met international high fashion.

Inside the Workshops: A Fusion of Industrial Progress and Hand-Painted Artistry

The hearts of this production beat within Austrian workshops that seamlessly blended industrial innovation with artisanal dedication. Companies like Swarovski championed technical advancements, but smaller workshops hummed with the focused activity of bench jewelers and enamellers. Unlike mass-produced pieces often glued together today, vintage Austrian brooches frequently feature meticulously prong-set stones, where tiny metal claws secure each crystal with precision, a hallmark of quality craftsmanship.

Enamellers, with practiced hands, meticulously applied “cold enamel” (a durable resin) — sometimes employing clever techniques like adding a subtle texture (“sugar” or “frosted”) to petals to evoke organic depth. These skilled artisans worked diligently, often specializing in particular tasks, contributing to the exceptional detail and high standard that defines “Made in Austria” pieces.

The Brilliance Within: High-Lead Content and the Electric Sparkle

The captivating brilliance of Austrian crystals is no happy accident; it’s the result of scientific ingenuity and a technical revolution in glass cutting. Understanding this “sparkle” requires looking closely at crystal composition and fabrication.

• The Lead Secret: Until 2012, vintage Austrian crystals typically contained around 30% to 32% lead oxide. This seemingly simple addition dramatically increased the glass’s Refractive Index. When light enters such a crystal, it bends more intensely, bouncing around internal facets and splitting into a spectrum of colors (creating “fire”) before exiting. This precise interaction with light is what gives high-lead crystals their diamond-like brilliance and makes them distinct from ordinary glass rhinestones.
• The Electric Edge: Before the late 19th century, crystal faceting was largely hand-cut, resulting in inevitable imperfections that hampered light reflection. Daniel Swarovski’s 1892 invention of an electric cutting machine changed everything. This technology allowed for microscopic precision, enabling the creation of symmetrical facets that maximized light reflection back towards the viewer. This marriage of chemistry (high lead) and technology (precision cutting) created a level of sparkle previously unseen in costume jewelry.

Beyond the Sparkle: Identifying Your Austrian Treasure

As you explore the world of MCM Austrian flower brooches, understanding the key identifiers can help authenticate your finds and build a knowledgeable collection.

• “Made in Austria”: The most common stamp, typically located on the reverse, either in a circular or straight line format. Simpler marks like just “AUSTRIA” are also frequently found.
• Designer Hallmarks: While many Austrian pieces are anonymous masterpieces, look for stamps from the American designers and houses that collaborated with Austrian workshops — Kramer, Weiss, Art, Alice Caviness, or even, rarely, Schiaparelli for high-end pieces. Finding an Austrian piece bearing a designer’s mark can significantly enhance its collectible value.
• The “Aurora Borealis” Effect: Brooches exhibiting a captivating blue-pink-gold “oil slick” shimmer feature the coveted Aurora Borealis (AB) coating. This innovative vacuum-sealed metal finish, developed in 1956 through collaboration between Manfred Swarovski and Christian Dior, was specifically designed to intensify brilliance and add dynamic color shifts, further elevating the glamour of mid-century pieces.
• Quality Signals: Beyond stamps, examine the reverse. High-quality Austrian brooches often have finished backings (sometimes decorative “honeycomb” patterns) and utilize robust construction. Look for sturdy pin stems with rollover safety clasps rather than simpler, potentially flimsier mechanisms.

How Many Were Marked?

While there is no official “census” of every piece produced, experts and long-time collectors generally estimate that between 30% and 50% of mid-century Austrian jewelry reached the market without a permanent maker’s mark or a “Made in Austria” stamp.

The high volume of unmarked pieces wasn’t a sign of low quality, but rather a result of the specific business models of the time. Here is why so many of these “unsigned beauties” exist:

1. The “Hangtag” Problem

In the 1950s and 60s, many Austrian workshops used paper hangtags or gold-foil stickers to identify the country of origin rather than stamping the metal. Since these brooches were often sold in department stores, the first thing a buyer would do was snip off the tag. Decades later, the provenance is lost even though the craftsmanship (prong-set stones, high-lead crystal) remains obvious.

2. Private Labeling for American Brands

As we discussed, many Austrian workshops acted as “ghostwriters” for American designers.

• The Buyer’s Choice: If a brand like Kramer or Weiss ordered a batch of brooches, they might request their own name be stamped on the piece.
• The “Unsigned” Batch: If the American brand didn’t want to pay the extra fee for custom stamping — or if the workshop was producing a generic line for smaller boutiques — the pieces were sent out with only a “Made in Austria” sticker or no mark at all.

3. Avoiding Double-Branding

High-end designers like Schiaparelli often preferred their jewelry to look like “fine” jewelry. Permanent country-of-origin stamps were sometimes seen as “cluttering” the aesthetic of a high-fashion piece. In these cases, the “Austria” mark was relegated to the original box or a temporary tag to comply with import laws without affecting the design of the brooch itself.

4. Component Exports

Austria exported millions of finished “floral units” (pre-assembled enameled flowers or crystal clusters). These were often bought by smaller jewelry companies in the U.S. or UK, who would then mount them onto their own pins or backing plates. Because the “final” assembly happened elsewhere, the piece might be unmarked or even bear a stamp from a different country entirely.

How to ID an Unmarked Austrian Piece

If you find a brooch without a stamp, you can often “verify” its Austrian origin by looking for these three technical fingerprints:

1. The “Honeycomb” Back: Look for a distinctive openwork pattern on the reverse of the metal that allows light to hit the crystals from behind.
2. Specific Pin Mechanics: Austrian pieces frequently used a very specific, slightly elongated safety catch that is sturdier than the “C-clasps” found on cheaper imitations.
3. The “Sugar” Finish: If the enamel has a grainy, sparkling texture that looks like it was dipped in sugar, it is almost certainly a product of a 1960s Austrian workshop.

A Lasting Bloom

MCM Austrian flower brooches are more than shimmering baubles; they are miniature time capsules capturing a unique moment of fashion collaboration and technical achievement. Their enduring popularity among collectors underscores the exceptional level of craftsmanship, the scientific ingenuity behind their brilliance, and the vibrant creativity of the era in which they bloomed. Whether featuring the bold, playful enamel designs of the 1960s or delicate, rhinestone-encrusted pastels from the 1950s, each piece carries within it a whisper of a golden age when artistry and accessibility came together to make the world a little brighter.

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Erin L. Albert is an avid collector of 1960s enamel flower brooches and restores vintage enamel flower brooches for fun, carefully, along with her family.

In the mid-20th century, the fashion world was caught in a tug-of-war between old-world elegance and the brave new world of synthetic chemistry. At the heart of this transition was Hattie Carnegie, a woman who didn’t just design clothes — she defined American style. When a “miracle fiber” called Dynel emerged in the 1950s, Carnegie proved that “plastic” could, in fact, be posh.

While she utilized the fiber for structured suits and luxurious millinery, her most whimsical and enduring legacy remains the Dynel flower brooches of the 1960s. Often referred to as “Powder Puffs” or “Brushing Flowers,” these colorful, textured accessories captured the era’s fascination with space-age materials and floral femininity.

The Science of Style: What was Dynel?

Developed by Union Carbide in 1950, Dynel was an acrylic fiber (specifically a copolymer of vinyl chloride and acrylonitrile). It was engineered to solve the headaches of natural fibers while mimicking their best qualities. In Carnegie’s hands, this laboratory marvel became a high-fashion staple because it was:

• Resilient: it held its “set” and resisted wrinkles or crushing.
• Flame-resistant: A vital safety feature for the era’s burgeoning synthetic market.
• Vibrant: It took to dyes with a saturation that natural fibers couldn’t match.
• Versatile: It could be spun into a soft, “brushing” texture that felt like a hybrid of fine fur and silk.

For Carnegie, the appeal wasn’t just novelty — it was utility. She saw an opportunity to provide her busy, jet-setting clients with garments and accessories that looked like high-end couture but functioned with the ease of the modern age. (For more on the Union Carbide/Carnegie collab, you can Google it — but it’s a pretty random collaboration.)

In a previous article, I showed another suspicious Hattie Carnegie Dynel Powder Puff brooch, which you can see here.

The “Unsigned” Challenge

For the modern collector, sourcing these botanical beauties comes with a significant hurdle: the lack of consistent markings. Unlike her heavy gold-plated costume jewelry, Carnegie’s Dynel brooches are notoriously hit-or-miss when it comes to signatures.

• The Mark: When signed, you will typically find the standard “Hattie Carnegie” script stamped into a small oval metal cartouche on the reverse of the pin.
• The Reality: Many of these pieces were originally sold with paper hangtags or as part of boutique sets where only the box was branded. Over decades, these ephemeral marks disappeared. It is now very common to find authentic Dynel flowers that are completely unsigned, leading many to be overlooked in thrift shops or misidentified as generic “craft” pieces.

While Hattie Carnegie was a master of marketing, the Dynel flower brooches themselves rarely took center stage in her major print advertisements. Instead, they occupied a unique space in her business model: they were “boutique items” rather than “couture statements.”

Here is how the marketing worked — and why you won’t find a full-page Vogue ad dedicated solely to a Dynel pin:

1. The “Total Look” Strategy

In the 1960s, Carnegie’s high-fashion ads in magazines like Harper’s Bazaar typically focused on her suits and millinery. The Dynel brooches were often used as “finishers” on the models in these shoots. They weren’t the product being sold in the copy, but they were part of the “Carnegie Look” that readers were meant to emulate.

2. Department Store “In-Store” Promotion

The majority of the marketing for the Dynel flowers happened at the retail level. Carnegie had a massive wholesale business, and these brooches were frequently featured in local newspaper ads for high-end department stores like I. Magnin, Lord & Taylor, or Neiman Marcus. * They were often marketed as “The Perfect Gift” or “Spring’s Newest Bloom.”

• These local ads are where you would occasionally see the “Powder Puff” name used to describe the soft, brushed texture of the Dynel.

3. The Hangtag over the Headline

Because the Dynel pieces were considered “Mod” and slightly more accessible than her fine costume jewelry (which used Austrian crystals and heavy casting), they were often sold on branded cardstock or with distinctive paper hangtags.

• Many collectors believe this is why so many are unsigned today; the “ad” was the packaging itself.
• By the time the pieces reached a secondary market, the card was long gone, leaving only the “unsigned challenge” we see today.

4. Direct Mail and Catalogs

The most direct “advertising” for these specific items was through store catalogs and mailers. Carnegie’s boutique items were staples of the “Christmas Catalog” era, where a small photo of a colorful Dynel bloom would be listed alongside her perfumes (like A Gogo) and other small accessories.

Identifying an Unmarked Piece

How do you spot a Carnegie in a sea of vintage “fuzz”? If you find a piece you suspect is hers but lacks a signature, look for these professional “tell-tale” signs:

1. The “Petal” Construction

Carnegie’s Dynel flowers have a specific “crunch” and sheen. The fiber is softer than modern cheap synthetics but has more “memory” (rigidity) than real wool. The petals should appear densely packed and perfectly uniform, resisting wilting even after sixty years.

2. The Signature Centers

Look at the heart of the flower. Carnegie frequently used high-quality enameled stamen centers or clusters of small, glass beads. The centers are often finished in vibrant, contrasting shades — like her signature “Carnegie Blue” — that pop against the Dynel petals.

3. The Color Palette

Carnegie had a specific eye for color. Look for her signature vibrant corals, turquoise, and deep magentas. If the color looks like it belongs on a 1960s runway, there is a high probability it’s a Carnegie creation. (See above for vibrancy example.)

4. Hardware and Plating

Flip the piece over. Carnegie didn’t skimp on the “bones” of her jewelry. The metal backings should have a heavy, smooth gold-tone plating that resists flaking or “greening.” The pin-back mechanisms are usually substantial and securely soldered, not glued.

Did Hattie Design more than the Flowers?

While the “Powder Puff” flowers are the most famous application of the fiber, Hattie Carnegie did indeed extend her “Dynel Dynasty” into a whimsical menagerie of animal brooches. These are significantly rarer than the flowers, making them “holy grail” items for Carnegie collectors. Because Dynel was essentially a “synthetic fur,” it was a natural fit for creating textured, three-dimensional animals.

The Carnegie Dynel Zoo

When Carnegie moved beyond florals, she applied the same “brushed” Dynel technique to small, playful creatures. You will primarily find:

• The “Fluffy” Lion: One of her most iconic Dynel animal designs features a gold-tone lion head with a massive, circular mane made of brushed Dynel fibers (often in gold or orange).
• The Poodle: Capitalizing on the 1960s obsession with the breed, she created poodles where the “pom-poms” of the coat were made of white or pink Dynel tufts.
• The Owl: These often used Dynel to mimic feathers, usually paired with large, sparkling rhinestone eyes.
• The Lamb: A classic “nursery” aesthetic, using white Dynel to represent wool.

Identification Differences

Unlike the flowers, which are often unsigned, the animal brooches are more likely to be marked.

• Construction: The animals typically have more complex metal “skeleton” structures. Look for the “Hattie Carnegie” oval cartouche on the back of the animal’s head or body.
• Mixed Media: Carnegie often mixed Dynel with other high-end materials for animals. For example, a lion might have a Dynel mane but a Lucite body or crystal eyes. This layering of textures is a hallmark of her more expensive boutique pieces.

Why they are harder to find

The flowers were produced in larger quantities because they were the “entry-level” boutique accessory. The animals were more labor-intensive to manufacture and were often sold at a higher price point in department stores. Additionally, because the animals have more “protruding” parts (ears, tails, manes), the Dynel on these pieces is more prone to matting or wear over the decades compared to the flat, protected petals of the flowers.

Did Any Other Makers Use Dynel?

While Hattie Carnegie is the name most synonymous with Dynel jewelry today, the 1960s were an era of intense material experimentation. However, the use of Dynel specifically in high-fashion brooches appears to be a Carnegie signature that few others replicated in the same way.

Here is how other mid-century makers compared in their use of synthetics and similar “hairy” textures:

1. Giorgio di Sant’Angelo: The “Hair” Rival

If anyone rivaled Carnegie’s use of Dynel, it was Giorgio di Sant’Angelo. He famously collaborated with Dynel’s manufacturer, Union Carbide, to create “hair jewelry” in the late 1960s.

• The Design: While Carnegie focused on structured flower petals, Sant’Angelo created massive, bohemian cuffs, braids, and brooches that looked like actual human hair.
• The Distinction: Sant’Angelo’s work was much more “Mod” and avant-garde, often featured on the covers of Vogue with models like Veruschka. His pieces were frequently one-of-a-kind or limited run, making them even rarer than Carnegie’s flowers.

2. Pierre Cardin: The Structuralist

Pierre Cardin was the king of Dynel in the 1960s, but primarily for apparel. He created a famous line of “heat-molded” dresses made from a 100% Dynel fabric he called “Cardine.”

• Accessories: While Cardin did make massive geometric jewelry, he typically used Lucite or heavy metals. If you find a Cardin piece that looks like Dynel, it is almost certainly a part of a garment (like a built-in 3D ornament) rather than a standalone brooch.

3. The “Powder Puff” Imitators

During the mid-to-late 60s, a craze for “fluffy” jewelry emerged. While Alice Caviness and Arthur Pepper (ART) are famous for their enameled flower brooches, they generally stuck to traditional materials:

• Metal and Enamel: Caviness and ART focused on “shabby chic” painted enamels. They occasionally used feathers or mink fur to achieve a soft texture, but they did not adopt the industrial “brushed Dynel” petals that Carnegie favored.
• The “Lookalike”: You may find unsigned 1960s floral pins that use nylon bristles (similar to a bottle brush). These are often mistaken for Carnegie Dynels, but they lack the heavy gold-plating and the specific soft, “brushed” feel of authentic Dynel.

4. Why was Carnegie Unique?

Carnegie was uniquely positioned because her brand spanned both high-end millinery and costume jewelry. Since she was already using Dynel for her hats and “faux fur” trims, it was a natural mechanical extension for her jewelry workshop to incorporate the fiber into floral designs. Most other jewelry-only houses didn’t have the textile infrastructure or the direct partnership with Union Carbide to make it happen.

The Legacy of the “Plastic” Era

The collaboration between Carnegie’s brand and Union Carbide’s chemistry was a pivotal moment in fashion history, albeit a random one. It signaled a shift where “synthetic” no longer meant “cheap substitute,” but rather technological luxury. Hattie Carnegie’s endorsement gave Dynel social standing. She proved that a woman could wear a laboratory-born fiber and still be the most elegant person in the room — even if she didn’t leave her name on the back of the brooch.

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Erin L. Albert is an avid collector of 1960s enamel flower brooches and restores vintage enamel flower brooches for fun, carefully, along with her family.

If you’ve ever spent an afternoon rummaging through a bowl of vintage costume jewelry, you’ve likely encountered a piece that felt a bit more “alive” than the rest. Perhaps it was a vibrant, three-dimensional rose or a whimsical daisy, marked on the back with a simple, bold “ART.”

These are the creations of Arthur Pepper, a master of the mid-century costume jewelry scene whose work turned the humble enamel brooch into a collectible art form.

The Vision of Arthur Pepper

While the brooches are celebrated, the man behind the “ART” hallmark remains an enigmatic figure in mid-century design. Arthur Pepper (1889–1976) founded his company, originally known as Mode Art Jewelry Co., in New York City in the late 1940s.

Pepper was more than just a businessman; he was a key figure in the NYC jewelry community, serving as a founding member and financial secretary of the Costume Jewelry Manufacturers Association of New York in the 1950s. This connection kept him at the pulse of the “Golden Age” of costume jewelry, working alongside other legendary figures of the time.

Key Influences on His Work

Pepper’s designs were rarely minimalist; he was a maximalist who looked to the past to inform the present.

• Victorian and Renaissance Revival: Much of his work, including the heavier, textured gold-tone enamel pieces, draws directly from the ornate aesthetics of the 19th century.
• Art Deco Geometry: Though his flower brooches feel organic, you can often see the structural influence of Art Deco in the way he balanced symmetry and bold, contrasting colors.
• Nature as a Canvas: Unlike some designers who aimed for “high-fashion abstraction,” Pepper was obsessed with the literal beauty of the botanical world. He aimed to make jewelry that felt like it had been freshly picked from a garden, then dipped in gold and resin.

Signature Characteristics

What makes an Arthur Pepper enamel flower so recognizable? It’s all in the texture and tone.

• Vibrant Cold Enameling: Unlike “fired” enamel (which is fused glass), Pepper often used cold enameling — a high-quality paint-like resin. This allowed for a broader, more matte color palette that could mimic the velvety texture of real petals.
• Dimensionality: These aren’t flat pins. Pepper’s flowers often feature layered petals, “trembler” centers that move with the wearer, and realistic stems that curve naturally.
• The Color Stories: While he utilized classic reds and whites, Pepper excelled in “moody” mid-century tones: avocado greens, burnt oranges, and dusty turquoises.
• Mixed Media: Many brooches incorporate sparkling rhinestones or “fruit salad” molded glass beads to simulate dew drops or pollen-heavy centers.

Why Collectors Love Them

In the world of vintage collecting, Arthur Pepper brooches occupy a “sweet spot.” They are high-quality enough to feel substantial and luxurious, yet they remain accessible compared to high-end couture pieces.

The Variety of Flora

Pepper didn’t stick to just one species. His catalog is a virtual botanical garden, including:

1. Roses: His most iconic work, often found in deep crimson or creamy white with delicate gold-tone leaf accents.
2. Daisies and Mums: Featuring thick, textured petals that catch the light from multiple angles. (My personal favorite.)
3. Wreaths: Intricate circular arrangements of tiny blossoms and leaves, often worn during the spring and holiday seasons.

A Lasting Bloom

Arthur Pepper’s work captures a moment in time when jewelry was unapologetically feminine and celebratory. Whether you’re a seasoned collector or a newcomer to vintage style, pinning an ART flower to your lapel is more than a fashion choice — it’s a way to carry a piece of mid-century art history with you.

For More: Essential Collector Guides

While there isn’t a single-volume biography on Arthur Pepper alone, these books feature significant sections on his work and hallmarks:

• Warman’s Costume Jewelry: Identification and Price Guide by Pamela Y. Wiggins: An excellent resource for dating “ART” pieces and understanding where they sit in the market hierarchy.
• Collecting Costume Jewelry 202: The Basics of Worth, Identifying, and Discovering Victoriana by Julia C. Carroll: This volume is particularly helpful for Arthur Pepper fans because it focuses on the Victorian and Renaissance Revival styles he championed.
• Signed Costume Jewelry: Identification and Values by Marcia “Sparkles” Brown: A go-to for verifying hallmarks and seeing high-quality photographs of his signed floral arrangements.

Last, if you see that ART piece floating around in that jewelry bowl — grab it for me! 😉

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Erin L. Albert is an avid collector of 1960s enamel flower brooches and restores vintage enamel flower brooches for fun, carefully, along with her family.

Women at the helms of organizations in 2026 are still pretty rare. Only 10% of the Fortune 500 are led by women. Imagine how scarce they were mid- century!

However, in the mid-20th century, a select group of visionaries built an industry from the inside out. These women weren’t just jewelry designers; they were savvy CEOs and marketing pioneers who navigated a male-dominated business world to create brands that remain high-value treasures for modern collectors.

As we celebrate Women’s History Month, we highlight the “Founding Mothers” of costume jewelry — women who transformed “fakes”* into a formidable fashion force.

*“Fakes” — we define them here as attainable, beautiful costume jewelry that looks expensive, but was affordable back in the midcentury, and even to today.

Miriam Haskell: The Architect of Intricacy

Miriam Haskell was one of the first on our list…and she was born in Indiana. (Like me!) Haskell revolutionized the industry by treating costume jewelry with the same reverence as fine gems. Opening her New York boutique in 1926, she understood that her name represented a specific, high-society lifestyle.

• The Business Model: She was a master of branding, using her social connections to propel the brand into the wardrobes of Hollywood royalty.
• The Aesthetic: Famous for the labor-intensive “bead-on-mesh” technique. Every pearl and crystal was hand-wired to a complex filigree backing — never glued.

Alice Caviness: The Global Connector

A former fashion model, Caviness launched her company in the late 1940s with a unique perspective on how jewelry should catch the light.

• The Business Model: She pioneered the “imported-exclusive” model, traveling to Europe to commission high-end components from West Germany and Austria to offer a “couture” look at a costume price point.
• The Aesthetic: Celebrated for vibrant enamel work and art glass. Her intricate floral brooches, often featuring hand-painted details, are legendary among enthusiasts.

Coco Chanel: The Great Democratizer

Chanel turned the jewelry hierarchy on its head by deliberately mixing high-end pieces with “fakes” and wearing them with nonchalance.

• The Business Model: She essentially de-stigmatized the industry. By collaborating with the House of Gripoix, she created poured glass that mimicked emeralds and rubies, proving that “costume” could be more artistically complex than “real” jewelry.
• The Aesthetic: Known for the maximalist layer — multi-strand faux pearls, gold-tone chains, and the iconic Maltese cross cuffs.

Elsa Schiaparelli: The Surrealist Disruptor

If Chanel was the “industrialist,” Schiaparelli was the “artist.” She was a fierce rival who turned her boutique at 21 Place Vendôme into an avant-garde gallery.

• The Business Model: She pioneered the collaborative model, inviting masters like Salvador Dalí to design components. She also used “Shocking Pink” as a brand identity long before neon was a trend.
• The Aesthetic: Her jewelry was meant to provoke. Iconic pieces include the “Aspirin” necklace (made of clear plastic discs) and whimsical, surrealist animal pins.

Hattie Carnegie: The Lifestyle Mogul

Before the modern “lifestyle brand,” there was Hattie Carnegie. She built a multi-million dollar empire that included everything from gowns to perfume and accessories.

• The Business Model: Carnegie was the ultimate curator. She didn’t just sell a brooch; she sold the “Carnegie Look,” realizing that jewelry was an integral part of a complete fashion ensemble.
• The Aesthetic: Her work ranged from sophisticated multi-strand beads to whimsical animal pins, often utilizing high-quality plastics like Lucite elevated with intricate metalwork. Dynel was another avant-garde plastic she used, and her dynel flower brooches are some of the most highly sought after, rare, and coveted midcentury flower brooches of collectors.

Lea Stein: The Chemist of Cellulose

Starting in the late 1960s, French designer Lea Stein and her husband, Fernand Steinberger, revolutionized the industry through chemical engineering.

• The Business Model: Their operation used a secret method of laminating paper-thin sheets of cellulose acetate (Rhodoid), baking them for months to create a high-tech craft that limited production and kept demand high.
• The Aesthetic: Known for sculptural, 3D animal-themed brooches. Her most iconic piece is the “Renard” (Fox), featuring a signature V-shaped clasp on the reverse side.

Comparison of the Empires

The Legacy of the Mid-Century Woman Jewelry Designer and Entrepreneur

These women did more than create “sparkles.” They created jobs, navigated international trade, and built brands that survived the Great Depression and World War II. They understood that jewelry was a form of self-expression and armor for the modern woman, but also were not just for the wealthy and affluent, but for everyone.

When you hold a piece by Haskell or Caviness today, you aren’t just holding a vintage accessory; you’re holding a piece of a glass ceiling that was shattered decades ago.

—
Erin L. Albert is an avid collector and restorer of midcentury jewelry for fun, carefully, along with her family. She lives in Indiana.

Women’s History Month is in March each year. I wanted to take a look at the profession of pharmacy to see where we are right now, and THANKS to all the amazing women pharmacists who have gone before us to pave the way for today’s profession.

Today, if you walk into a pharmacy school classroom, you are looking at a room that is roughly 70% female. In the workforce, women represent approximately 65% of all practicing pharmacists. But, the glass ceiling in pharmacy didn’t shatter all at once; it has been hair-lined and pressure tested for decades.

We have the numbers. We have the clinical expertise. But as we move through 2026, the conversation has shifted from representation to realms of power.

The 1980s: The Great Demographic Shift

To understand where we are, we have to look at where the tide turned. In the mid-1980s, pharmacy hit a historic tipping point: for the first time, women became the majority gender in the profession.

This shift wasn’t just a demographic fluke; it was the result of centuries of quiet persistence and bold leadership from women who refused to stay on the sidelines.

The Pioneers Who Built the Path

Before we could talk about C-suites and ownership, these women had to fight for the right to simply exist in the lab:

• Elizabeth Gooking Greenleaf (1681–1762): The “Mother of American Pharmacy” who opened her Boston apothecary in 1727, standing as the lone female voice among dozens of male apothecaries. A mother of twelve, she managed a large household while navigating colonial medicine.
• Elizabeth Marshall (1768–1826): A master of business turnaround who took over her grandfather’s bankrupt shop in 1805 and transformed it into a massive commercial powerhouse and mentoring hub. She proved early on that clinical skill must be paired with business strategy.
• Mary Corinna Putnam Jacobi (1842–1906): The first woman to graduate from a school of pharmacy (1863), a foundational step that gave her the credibility to become a renowned physician and a fierce advocate for women’s medical education.
• Anna Louise James (1886–1977): The daughter of a man who escaped enslavement, “Miss James” was the first Black woman to graduate from the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy (1908). She operated her own pharmacy for half a century, serving as a beacon of community leadership long before the 1980s shift.
• Mary Munson Runge (1928–2014): In 1979, on the eve of the great shift, she became the first woman and the first African American president of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), effectively handing the keys of the profession to the next generation of women.

The Economic Engine: Women as Healthcare Deciders

There is a profound irony in the lingering leadership gap: Women make approximately 80% of the healthcare decisions for their households in the U.S. They are the “Chief Medical Officers” of the family, choosing the providers, managing the maintenance of chronic conditions, and navigating the labyrinth of insurance and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).

When women lead pharmacies and healthcare companies, they aren’t just occupying a seat; they are bringing the unique perspective of the primary consumer to the very design of the system.

The Independent Frontier: The Ownership Gap

While women have dominated the workforce since the 80s, the “Owner” title remains a steep hill to climb. Currently, in 2026, only about 20% to 25% of independent pharmacies are owned by women. I’m proud to say that we have many women independent pharmacy owners already as a part of our Cost Plus Drugs Affiliate Pharmacy Network and offer the Team Cuban Card.

The barriers aren’t clinical — they are structural. Access to capital and the “sticky floor” of being essential to daily operations often keep high-performing female pharmacists from stepping into the risk-heavy world of entrepreneurship. However, we are seeing a surge in “micro-pharmacies” and telepharmacy models where women are finally leveraging their PharmDs to build practices they own outright.

The View from the Top: Women in the C-Suite

When we look at the “Big Three” PBMs and the largest retail chains, the percentages at the absolute helm remain a work in progress.

• The Executive Lag: Despite being 65% of the workforce, women occupy fewer than 25% of C-Suite positions (CEO, COO, CFO) at top-tier pharmaceutical and pharmacy-related corporations.
• The “Clinical to Corporate” Pipeline: We are seeing a surge of women moving from Chief Pharmacy Officer roles — often a clinical leadership ceiling — into broader executive roles like COO or Chief Network Officer.
• Disruptors at the Helm: The most exciting growth in 2026 isn’t happening in legacy companies, but in the “Disruptor” space. Women are increasingly leading startups focused on drug pricing transparency, AI-driven network optimization, and direct-to-consumer pharmacy models. We now have one woman pharmacist Federal Congressional Representative in Diana Harshbarger.

Where Do We Go From Here?

In 2026, being the “majority” is no longer enough. The next era of pharmacy leadership is about moving from executing the strategy to designing it.

We are seeing a new “trifecta” of leadership emerge: women who hold a PharmD but have added a JD or an MBA to their arsenal. These “multihyphenate” leaders are the ones renegotiating PBM contracts, rewriting privacy protocols for the AI age, and building transparent pricing models from the ground up. Professionals at the helm (women and men) speak multiple professional languages — pharmacy, clinical, along with legal and business.

A few other amazing women pharmacy leaders that I personally follow who have also developed their own career niches:

• Amina Abubakar, PharmD: A consistent presence in the “Influential People in Pharmacy” lists, she leads Avant Pharmacy & Wellness and is a key advocate for clinical service integration in community pharmacy. She can articulate the value of pharmacy within clinical services.
• Sally Rafie, PharmD: A true “Architect” of the modern clinical practice, Dr. Rafie is the founder of Birth Control Pharmacist and a pharmacist specialist at UC San Diego Health. In 2026, she remains the leading national authority on expanding the pharmacist’s role in reproductive health.
• Ilisa Bernstein, PharmD, JD, FAPhA: A powerhouse in the regulatory and association spheres, Dr. Bernstein is the President of Bernstein Rx Solutions, LLC and a Pharmaceutical Sciences Trustee for the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP). As the first woman to serve as CEO of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) in its 172-year history, she broke one of the profession’s most significant glass ceilings.

The verdict for 2026?

The foundation is solid, but we still have a lot of room in which to develop. The workforce is already ours. The next decade will be defined by who owns the bricks, who writes the contracts, and who leads the disruption.

Ladies, we have more work to do.

__

Dr. Erin L. Albert is a pharmacist, attorney, and the Chief of Pharmacy Relations, Network and Professional Affairs at Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, PBC. She also is the only C-suite level woman and pharmacist-attorney within the organization. Opinions above are her own and not necessarily those of the Company.

If you’ve glanced at a red carpet or scrolled through your feed lately, you’ve likely seen them: oversized, sculptural, and unapologetically vibrant. I’m always on the hunt for them myself! The 1960s flower brooch has officially migrated from your grandmother’s velvet jewelry box to the lapels of the world’s most influential trendsetters.

But in 2026, this isn’t just a “retro” aesthetic. It’s a full-blown revival of “Flower Power,” reimagined for a generation looking for a softer kind of strength.

The Quiet Rebellion of 1960s Peace

In the late 1960s, the flower wasn’t just a pretty accessory. It was a tool of non-violent resistance. The “Flower Power” movement — coined by poet Allen Ginsberg — was a radical suggestion: meet the machinery of war and the rigidity of the “Establishment” with something fragile, organic, and beautiful.

• The Symbolism: Handing out flowers to police officers or tucking stems into rifle barrels wasn’t just a photo op. It was a visual protest against the “hard” values of the era.
• The Jewelry: Brooches by designers like Kenneth Jay Lane, Originals by Robert, Alice Caviness, Sarah Coventry, Austria, Western Germany, or the bold, enamel “mod” daisies of the era allowed people to wear their ideology affordably and with pulchritude. To wear a flower was to signal you were part of the “Counterculture” — a quiet rebellion rooted in the hope for a more empathetic world.

Why the Petals are 🔥 in 2026

So, why are these enameled petals everywhere again? After years of “quiet luxury” and beige minimalism, 2026 is seeing a massive pivot toward maximalism with meaning — and as yet again a sign of longing for peace during war.

1. The Antidote to the Digital “Hardness”

In a world dominated by AI-generated perfection and sleek, metallic tech, the organic curves of a vintage-style flower brooch offer a much-needed human touch. These pieces feel tactile, storied, and intentionally “imperfect.”

2. The “Soft Activism” Era

Similar to the ’60s, our current social climate is marked by deep polarization. Modern fashionistas are adopting the brooch as a symbol of “Soft Activism.” It’s a way of saying that kindness and peace aren’t passive — they are active choices. Wearing a symbol of nature is a nod to both environmental consciousness and human connection.

3. Gender-Fluid Styling

The 2026 brooch isn’t “girly” — it’s universal. We’re seeing heavy enamel poppies pinned to oversized blazers and 3D-printed lotus flowers on hoodies. The brooch has broken free from the “grandma” stereotype to become a gender-neutral centerpiece of self-expression.

Colors and Meaning

The color of the flower brooch also has meaning. Below, with help from Google — meaning of each of the colors:

• 💮 White flower brooches: Symbolize innocence, purity, and simplicity. White daisies were arguably the most popular, often with contrasting yellow centers.
• 🌼 Yellow: Represents joy, happiness, positivity, and friendship.
• 🌸 Pink/Neon Pink: Represents femininity, grace, love, and affection.
• 🌹 Red: Passion, love, energy, and commitment.
• 🏵️ Orange/Chartreuse: (One of my personal favorites) represents enthusiasm, energy, and the vibrant, unconventional, and bold style of the 60s generation.
• 🍀 Green: nature, growth, renewal, and vitality
• 💙 Blue: Peace and tranquility, fitting the anti-war theme of the decade.
• 💜 Purple/Lavender: Modesty and devotion
• 🟤 Brown: stability, reliability, and warmth, grounding spaces with a sense of security and comfort
• 🖤 Black: power, sophistication, and elegance, while also representing mystery, formality, and authority
• 🩶 Silver: wealth, modernity, and sleek technology, often associated with prestige, grace, and glamour and Gray: balance, sophistication, and composure, while also representing detachment, neutrality, and practical, calm intelligence
• 🏆 Gold: wealth, prosperity, success, and high status, often representing luxury, prestige, and sophistication
• 🌈 Multicolored/Mixed: Harmony, diversity, and celebration.

Materials Matter

Most of these 1960s flower brooches were made of metal — and enamel (oil) base painted. However, there were other materials that the manufacturers of the 1960s employed for these brooches — such as plastic, wood, Paper-mâché, and ceramics.

Rare/distinct forms of enameling include: plique-à-jour or Guilloché. Sometimes, the blooms were mixed enamels with rhinestones or faux pearls as well.

Several countries produced these blooms in the 1960s. Some of the most highly coveted flower brooches came from Western Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, or the US.

They often were not marked by the maker; however, highly coveted brands include: Alice Caviness, Hattie Carnegie, Originals by Robert, Sarah Coventry, Weiss (a favorite as many blooms also have bugs), Lisner, BSK, and many others. And, an interesting side note and separate discussion were the leaders of these costume jewelry makers of the 1960s; many of whom were women — in an era where women at the helm of organizations were very rare…

How to Style the 2026 Bloom

If you’re looking to jump on the trend, forget the “neat and tidy” look. The 2026 way to wear them is all about contrast and scale:

• Wear one over a simple turtleneck or shirt in the lapel area
• Wear them at the waist on jeans or pants
• Sweater clips with flowers
• Can be we worn at the sleeves like cufflinks
• Also — worn in clusters, where 2, 3, or 4 may be worn together like a cluster on a hat or lapel

Fashion is a mirror. In the ’60s, we wore flowers because we wanted the world to grow. In 2026, we’re wearing them because we’re finally remembering how to plant the seeds.

The return of the flower brooch is a reminder that while trends fade, the desire for peace and the beauty of nature never goes out of style. It’s time to pin your heart — and your values — on your sleeve.

___

Erin L. Albert is an avid collector of 1960s enamel flower brooches and restores vintage enamel flower brooches for fun, carefully, along with her family.

Friends, “hate” is a strong word. So, I won’t use it. But suffice it to say that I personally think January is the Monday of months.

All the holiday hoopla is over, and it’s like being stuck with the check and a big hangover when everyone else left the party. The weather is generally gray and dark where I am (in the Midwest), and there are a ton of adulting obligations to do during the month too — icky stuff like de-holiday-decorating, accounting, tax prep, and even annoying things like car license plate registrations for me.

However, to try to win the uphill battle that is January, if you — like me — suffer from the January blues/grays, here are some adulting badge wins for your consideration that I do during this month, despite it being at least my least favorite time of the year:

• Get solid on your goals — I write mine as I review the previous year’s goals in December, but they’re wet concrete by the end of the previous year. They dry and cure in January. So, I tweak them during January until I feel like I can honor them, have the resources and capacity to achieve them (with a little extra stretch), and focus on them for the year.
• Check your documents— check your driver’s license, your car registration, your insurance, your passport, and your TSA precheck expirations. When was the last oil change on your car too?
• Check your other licenses — professional licenses, for example. Many require continuing education — are you good there?
• Make your Medical appointments — for your primary care doctor, for your gyno, ladies, for your mammo ladies, and for your dentist if you haven’t already. I’d recommend waiting until the end of the month, because healthcare plans change on 1/1 which means most insurance right now is an absolute mess. Let that work itself out for a few before you go adding fuel to the fire, if at all possible.
• Check your financial accounts — how’s that IRA doing? 401k? Those CDs? Doing an annual review of your finances isn’t my favorite thing, but I lift the hood on my finances in January to see if there’s anything else I need to change in the new year. That might mean actually funding your Roth or Traditional IRA for the year out of the gate. (My broker made it next to impossible for me to fund mine this year, but I ultimately persevered and won that war today.) Make sure your bank isn’t nickeling and diming you on fees — if they are, bounce and find another bank.
• Check your utilities — can you negotiate or re-negotiate rates? Can you get rid of anything? Have you been watching Netflix? How about your cellphone plan — when was the last time you shopped that for a better rate?
• Check your password manager — whatever tool(s) you use — are they up to date? Is it time to update it or whatever method you use?
• Get ready for tax time — if you own a business, it’s 1099 time and sales tax time. I would rather go to the dentist or the gyno than wrestle with my accounting, but hey — you have to get it done. Set up your tax appointments if you use an accountant or tax preparer — 4/15 will be here before you know it.
• Check your will — Another item I’ve been avoiding, but it’s time to get that will out and get it re-written. It’s musty old.
• Plan major vacations for the year — I’m going to Alaska this year, but that’s going to take some planning. Make sure the time is blocked on your calendar, and your day job is cool with it, and then book your travel.
• Plan major learning excursions for the year — If you’re leading, you have to keep learning, so what is your learning plan for the year? Get that stuff on the calendar too. It’s important. That might mean going to France to study painting, or just going online and watching a TedX talk once a week — whatever that is, get it on the calendar.
• Get rid of stuff no longer serving you — Clear off the pile on your desk, clear out your closets, and give to charity. And, maybe it’s even time to think about cutting the cord on personal relationships that aren’t healthy anymore for you too. Anything you focus your time and attention on should be paying you back in some way — financially, ethically, morally, or socially. If you don’t feel like you’re getting much out of whatever or whomever that is anymore, maybe it’s time to clear that out too….
• Check your job — Did you actually have goals or performance reviews at your company? If not, you should still consider writing formal goals for yourself at work as well. If the job is no longer serving you, just as the previous bullet, then maybe it’s time for your goal to be getting a new job that does in the new year…? You should be learning and/or earning. If you’ve got 2/2 going on (like me), great — check the box and you’re good. If you’ve only got 1/2 going on, hey — we all need to pay our bills. But if you’re not getting paid and you’re not learning, it’s time to find something new.

This is an aggressive, ambitious list to knock out in January. But, the good news is that if I can get it done, January should fly by quickly and I shouldn’t notice the drudgery of the cold, gray dark days.

May the odds be ever in our favor….for getting through January 2024.

Let’s take an exploratory journey today on…how we get…prescription glasses here in the US. As I did that myself this week, (my prescription changed), I couldn’t stop thinking about how the process is similar, and yet distinct from how we obtain prescription drugs in the US. Parts of it are frankly…better to get Rx glasses than Rx drugs.

Could we learn something in pharmacy from the prescription glasses industry and process?

Let’s explore!

I’ll Be Seeing You: Prescription Glasses

So, I have a regular optometrist that I go to every year to get my eyes checked. I stare at a lot of screens, have some screen strain and dry eyes after about hour 10 of staring at them…and now have a hobby of trying to read astronomically small font on costume jewelry these days (even with the jeweler’s loop). SO….off to the eye doc I went this past week and shocker…my prescription changed.

I paid around $70 for the eye checkup and prescription using my HSA card. No prior authorization needed. No battling it out if my provider was in or out of network — none of those shenanigans.

Second, I never buy glasses where I get my eyes checked. Well, I tried once or twice, but every time it turned out to be a disaster, so I’ve vowed to shop elsewhere for my glasses. With my eye doctor, no problem! She hands me a PAPER PRESCRIPTION (hint: no funky electronic jazz or e-prescribing to deal with here), and off I go to explore the multitude of glasses options within the universe.

This time, I took it to a couple of places where I’ve bought glasses in the past — SEE and Warby Parker. Although SEE had some amazing frames as always (neon is back, BTW!) Warby Parker won the day and I bought 3 pairs of glasses for around $900. I used my HSA card(s) (drained one in the process and started in on a second HSA card) and they’ll be in around 2 weeks from now.

Best of all, there’s NO PBM or intermeddler here telling me that I need a prior authorization prior to buying my glasses from Warby Parker or I have to try another glasses company before I go to Warby Parker. I don’t have to deal with any red tape. There’s no battling it out with the insurance company, and if I WANT to buy the bougie high-end SEE neon glasses, that’s my choice, and my money.

Last — the optician helping me took a photo of my glasses and used my HSA card and measured my eyes — and then HANDED ME BACK MY PAPER PRESCRIPTION. I can take it anywhere else I like if I want for the year.

What if Prescription Drug Benefits Were Like This?

Here’s the part I pondered on the way home from my 15-minute experience at Warby Parker picking out my glasses: What if we treated prescription drugs like prescription glasses in the US? Like:

1. You get paper prescriptions from your doc for your maintenance medications when you go for your annual physical. (No e-prescribing toll booth fees driving up the cost of healthcare.)
2. You can take them to any pharmacy of your choosing.
3. You shop around and if you want bougie service, you can get it if you can pay for it with your HSA. If you don’t want bougie, you can go low cost style if you like and go to a discount pharmacy.
4. You can shop for the lowest price if you like.
5. You don’t have to worry about the pharmacy being in-network, or out-of-network, and you don’t have to worry about prior authorizations, step therapies, whether or not the drug is on formulary*, and/or trying and failing on other therapies before heading straight to the best medication your doctor wants you to use.
6. Your prescription is portable and on you to keep and use as and where you like.

But wait — What About Specialty Drugs?

First, I know I’m extremely lucky. I have an HSA account to actually PAY for these items. Second, I also know you smarter folks out there are already thinking ahead — what about specialty medications?

First off, I don’t really know what a ‘specialty medication’ is — no one can seem to define it for me — other than EXPENSIVE. If we use that definition, I’m not completely sure what that means to the average American either. Does expensive = $25 a month? $100 a month? $200? $300? $500? If we use the glasses analogy, and if the average American spends $300 on a pair of prescription glasses, that’s about $25 a month spread over a year.

Let’s say the cut-off is $100 a month on a prescription drug.

Hypothetically, if that’s the threshold, maybe employers could contract with specialty pharmacies directly to cover mail-order specialty drugs for their employees for anything above $100, and skip the PBM altogether. If smarter stop-loss insurers were out there, they’d offer self-funded employers the option of a policy rider for high-cost specialty drugs as well in addition to the stop loss on medical.

However, everything under $100 a month would be on you and your HSA card. That forces all of us to get really savvy really quick and shop around for the best price on our prescription drugs.

I’m sure there are employers out there that offer amazing $0 cost to the employee 100% covered vision insurance. But I haven’t worked for one of those companies for my entire career. I’m guessing I’m not alone either.

The bottom line:

• Maybe consumerism under a certain $ threshold for prescription drugs in the US with employer-based healthcare insurance isn’t a terrible idea. We all need to start pinching pennies. Otherwise, we’re heading into a brick wall while driving at night — without our prescription glasses on….
• I think smart stop-loss insurers out there might team up with medical plans and start cutting out the PBMs on lower-cost drugs where spread can happen and PBMs can make $ and shaft the employers and employees. (Although most medical plans have vertically-integrated PBMs too. Insert analogy here as to why I don’t buy my glasses at my optometrist’s office…)
• Maybe let’s try more consumerism at lower-cost drugs and create a threshold where some type of prescription benefits kick in after a certain threshold (yes, I get that this could be an HDHP, but do a carve-out exception for prescription drugs above a certain amount regardless of whether or not the employee has met their deductible or not.
• We all have to start paying attention to saving $$$ when it comes to our Rx drugs — if we just keep on handing over our prescription benefit cards at the pharmacy counter, we play right into the system of making the big vertically integrated healthcare insurers more profitable. Not really helpful for anyone, except the big vertically integrated healthcare insurers.

This was an interesting comparison. And one worth writing about.

We need to look at options for our future in the US, because frankly, the current system is broken.

____

Erin L. Albert is a pharmacist, attorney, and VP of Pharmacy Relations at Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, PBC. However, the opinions above are hers alone. An option for Americans without insurance or tired of insurance games is two-fold with MCCPDC: 1. www.costplusdrugs.com and 2. www.teamcubancard.com.

*Note: Neither costplusdrugs.com nor teamcubancard.com has a “drug formulary.” Drug formularies are a menu of drugs put together through clinical pharmacy and therapeutics committee members after review of clinical data and economic data as well. Some drugs may be included and excluded from a drug formulary after clinical reviews. We at Cost Plus Drugs will sell any FDA-approved A-rated drug that would be sold to us. We only have a drug list…no drug formulary, and no drug tiers.

Caution — affiliate links below.

When writing my 2023 goals late last December, I declared to myself at the beginning of the new year…a war….on my basement.

After several house moves, a love of antiques, a collection of furniture, smalls, and “stuff” has filled many shelves in my basement abode, to the point where it was time to start unloading some of said ‘stuff.’ Not full-on KonMari / Swedish Death Cleaning or anything. But, an opportunity to take my time and pare down some of the ridiculousness of volume piling up.

Along the way, in my exploration and education of how to remove said “stuff” from my life, I ironically started collecting, of all things…jewelry. (Insert ironic eye roll here. 🙄)

First, I’ve never been much of a jewelry girl. A simple pear of pearl earrings, a pearl necklace, a watch, and maybe a flower brooch of the past, I was never into wearing a lot of it. However, when I began learning how to sell off some of my collection (AKA ‘stuff’ per above), particularly on whatnot, I stumbled upon antique costume jewelry and some of the famous makers through my education and struck up an interest in understanding and studying them.

One of them was Miriam Haskell. When I began reading about her, I was shocked to learn that from a Russian Jewish family, she, like me, was born in Indiana — Tell City, IN to be exact. She was born in 1899 and moved from Indiana to the big apple and started designing jewelry from the 1920s-1960s. Her jewelry was shown at the McAlpin Hotel.

When I first was introduced to Miriam by some jewelry sellers on Whatnot, my first thought on Miriam’s designs was that they were way too bougie for me. And, pretty fussy. I was more of the MCM painted enamel flower pin/brooches type (don’t worry, I still have a big collection of these too), but recently, my opinion on Miriam’s pieces changed with the piece above.

It’s a brooch that has the phrase, ‘Providentiae Memor’ on it. Hey, I took 3 years of Latin in high school, so dead language or not, I was curious how the term translated. A more direct translation is “remember providence,” but it beyond that could mean one of two things (according to the internet, so take that with a grain of salt):

1. Remember God and his protecting watch over us, or
2. Remember to prepare for any possible future outcomes.

It apparently also was the motto of the Kingdom of Saxony, which was part of Germany.

Let’s take that second definition on for a minute. How might we prepare for any possible future outcomes? And really, is there any better time in history than right now for this not-so-gentle reminder — big brooch or not?

Prepare for Future Outcomes

When I saw Miriam’s brooch and translated the phrase, I thought to myself for a moment a very Kierkegaard thing — life is lived forward, but understood backward. It clicked. Which is this:

Remember all your bad bosses?

Remember all the terrible jobs from your past?* (*Including, but not limited to, greasy floors and backed-up basement sewers.)

Remember toiling away long nights studying and working?

They were actually serving you in a great way.

They were your Providentiae Memor!

The bad jobs, bosses, and work were preparing me for future work and outcomes.

Miriam through her brooch reminded me to thank the universe for all the terrible management and toil I had in the past because it was all work to get me to today.

We all must prepare for future outcomes today as well. Think about the accumulation of experiences over your life and how they have prepared you for this very moment of your career, and your life.

Trust me, it never felt like a gift at the time, but it really was a gift. Those bad experiences have prepared you for today.

Stay Flexible

Keep learning. Just as I am learning about midcentury modern jewelry and online auctions by declaring a low-key purge of my basement at the beginning of the year, staying flexible through constant learning is a way to prepare for the future.

How might we do this?

• Read books. Listen to podcasts. Take online courses.
• Take leadership coursework. (Hint: if you’re into pharmacy law, right now and through June we have a call for applications to the Diplomat, American Society for Pharmacy Law year-long leadership program for mid-career professionals.) Most professional societies and organizations offer some sort of leadership coursework and programs.
• Take a live class. Better yet, take a class in something you’ve always been interested in but never had the time to do (this is your Unicorn Space. And BTW — if you’re reading this and know of a great class on Midcentury Modern Jewelry makers, please share it with me, as this is my personal Unicorn Space right now!)
• Do things that make you uncomfortable. Take on that extra thing at work or at home. Declare war on your basement too! It might just lead you to your own Providentiae Memor.

The best way to prepare is to keep moving forward and educate yourself. Because we do know not what tomorrow brings.

Last but not least, you might be wondering if I actually purchased the brooch above.

But, it doesn’t matter.

What matters is the not-so-gentle reminder on the face of the brooch. That, and I now have a new respect for Ms. Haskell — a fellow native Hoosier, who reminds us all — long after her death — to always be prepared.

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Erin L. Albert is a writer, (very amateur) whatnot seller, and VP of pharmacy relations at Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, PBC. Opinions are hers and hers alone. If you’re interested in learning more about whatnot as a buyer, feel free to use this affiliate code to get a credit in. If to sell, this code to skip ahead in the application process.