Clara Bow, GET YOUR MAN bangle. photo: Getty Images/Bettman
Jaci Rohr, Jewelry Archivist at Paramount Studios hosts this insiders look at her work with jewelry, costumes & props in this special event for Members of the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles. If you aren’t a member, you can join here and get an invitation.
Paramount Pictures is the only major film studio located in the heart of Hollywood & is the only studio to have a dedicated Jewelry Archive spanning over 100 years of Paramount’s film history.
Paramount’s cinematic stories cover every historical era from pre-history through the present & beyond into the unknowable, yet imaginatively designed, future. The holdings in the Jewelry Archive reflect these time periods and we are lucky to have some wonderful examples from the Art Deco era.
Even films that were not set in the contemporary Art Deco period were influenced by the aesthetic. The ingenious use of materials produced not only fantastical designs purely for cinematic pleasure, but many pieces were made to mimic fine or high jewelry, with the use of specially created “stones”.
Paramount was the only studio to have a fine jeweler on staff. Working closely with the costume designers, directors & producers, our master jeweler produced a vast body of stock used over & over for many decades & oversaw the tens of thousands of gems & jewels in the costume rental department.
Take a peek at the hidden gems in the Paramount Pictures Jewelry Archive & re-discover some Art Deco treasures.
Jaci Rohr, Paramount Archivist
Jaci Rohr is an Archivist and Key Costumer. Her life-long interest in costuming began at age 5 when she discovered the joys of dressing up her dog. She has a Bachelor of Arts - Art Degree from San Jose State University. She continued to study design and costume construction specialties, including jewelry-making, millinery, corset-making, period sewing techniques and other “lost arts”.
While working in the entertainment industry for over 25 years in the costume department on various film and television projects, she invented rigs for “costume gags” used on reality TV shows and developed dog products for “The Dog Whisperer” Cesar Millan. At the same time, she was running her private manufacturing business producing costumes and props for a nationwide chain of photography studios. A Jaci-of-all-trades, Rohr invented exclusive tools for use in the manufacturing process.
She happily transitioned to the Paramount Pictures Archives in 2009 to work with costumes, props and jewelry. Her current job involves cataloging and caring for contemporary and vintage jewels, costumes and props and preparing museum exhibitions. Her esoteric skills and passion for research are integral to identifying, assessing and restoring the costume jewelry used in over 100 years of Paramount’s films.
She is still dressing her dog…Maezi doesn’t mind.
Photo: Paramount Archive.
Tickets:
This is a complimentary event only for members of the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles. Members will be sent an email with instructions for registering for this special event.
If you aren’t a member, but would like to join, you can become a member here! At some levels you will get a book signed by the authors of either Art Deco Theatres in Los Angeles or Los Angeles Art Deco from Arcadia Press.