Kenneth Jay Lane: A Collector's Guide

Kenneth Jay Lane launched his first jewellery line in 1963, having arrived at it sideways — via Vogue's art department, then shoe design for Dior, Delman and others, then a moment of covering plastic bangles with rhinestones that apparently sold out at Bonwit Teller in a single day. He understood immediately what he was doing and spent the next five decades doing it deliberately.

The pitch was simple and the execution wasn't. Lane made costume jewellery that didn't apologise for being costume jewellery — large, confident, built from resin, enamel, faux pearls and rhinestones, and worn by women who could have afforded the real thing and often preferred his versions anyway. Jackie Kennedy's faux pearl necklace by Lane sold at Sotheby's in 1996 for over $200,000, which is either a comment on provenance or on the quality of the pieces, probably both.

He called himself a fabulous fake. The point was that fake was fine — that the theatricality of costume jewellery was the feature, not the compromise.

What to collect

The most collectible pieces are from the 1960s and early 1970s. Large dangle earrings encrusted with rhinestones and coloured cabochons, elaborate collar necklaces, Moghul-inspired pieces drawing on Indian jewellery traditions, the "Let Them Eat Cake" designs — oversized, ornate, historically referential. These pieces have a weight and specificity that later production doesn't always match. Lane drew from an unusually wide range of sources — Byzantine, Egyptian, pre-Columbian, Chinese — and the best early pieces show that research rather than just the sparkle.

The feline pieces — jungle cats, panthers — appear across multiple decades and remain highly recognisable. The faux pearl work, particularly multi-strand necklaces with elaborate clasps, is the other consistent thread.

Dating by marks

This is where condition and authenticity become specific:

K.J.L. (with periods between each letter) — 1960s to early 1970s. The earliest and most collectible mark. Produced domestically, often by Gem-Craft in Rhode Island or DeLizza & Elster in New York.

Kenneth © Lane (copyright symbol between the two words, centered) — 1960s to 1970s. Used on pieces sold exclusively at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Kenneth Jay Lane (full name spelled out) — 1970s to 1980s.

Kenneth ©Lane (copyright symbol before Lane, at the end) — 1980s to early 2000s.

©KJL (copyright symbol, no periods) — early to mid 2000s. Used on QVC pieces and some boutique and department store pieces. Imported pieces from this period are sometimes additionally stamped with country of origin — Thailand or China.

Note that Lane re-issued favourite designs repeatedly across decades, so the mark is the most reliable dating tool. A piece that looks like a 1960s design may carry a 1980s or later mark.

The QVC question

Lane's QVC work from the 1990s onward is a separate collecting proposition. The pieces are signed and legitimate but were produced in larger quantities and at lower price points than the earlier work. Not without interest, but distinct from the Saks-era and early independent pieces in both rarity and market value.

He died in 2017, aged 85, having worked until close to the end. The archive is large and the market is active. The early pieces, particularly anything signed K.J.L. with periods, remain the ones worth finding.