David Webb

“David Webb is the most fashion conscious of jewelers”

- Eugenia Sheppard

“To wear David Webb you must have courage”

- longtime David Webb client

David Webb Timeline

1925

Birth of David Webb

1942

David Webb moves to New York City.

1944

Opens first shop on 47th street in New York City with Antionette Quillert as employee.

1948

David Webb, Inc. company incorporated with partners Antionette Quillert and legal advisor Morton G. Rosenberg and store opened on 2 West 46th St, New York City

1951-1952

Company moves to 666 Fifth Avenue, New York City

1957

Company moves to 6 West 57th Street, New York City

1960

Antionette Quillert and Morton G. Rosenberg resign; Nina Silverstein is named secretary, her husband Arnold Silberstein is named treasurer.

1962

Receives Diamond International award

1963

Opens David Webb-George Headley store at 204 Worth Avenue in Palm Beach Florida with George Headley, Webb provides jewelry, and Headley jeweled bibelots.

1963

Receives Diamond International award

1964

Moved David Webb-George Headley Palm Beach Florida store to 240 Worth Avenue

1964

Winner of Special Award for Jewelry as part of City American Fashion Critics Awards

1964

Opens store in Houston Texas at River Oaks building

1966

Creates 36 unique objects for Mildred Hilson’s Hospital for Special Surgery charity event

1968

Receives a Golden Tiberius award “for the jeweler” at the 2nd Annual Maremoda Festival in Capri

1972

Receives the Cultured Pearl Association of America Award for "the best use of cultured pearls in creative custom jewelry design.

1975

David Webb dies of pancreatic cancer

1975

Arnold and Nina Silberstein and their son Stanley assume ownership of David Webb company

2010

Estate jewelry dealers Mark Emanuel, Sima Ghadamian, and Robert Sadian purchase David Webb

2012

Sima Ghadamian sells her share of David Webb to Mark Emanuel and Robert Sadian

Book Reviews

David Webb, The Quintessential American Jeweler by Ruth Peltason

Elegant Jewelry can be Fun

Driven by fashion, David Webb created fashionable jewelry that was also incredibly elegant. He showed the world that elegance can also be fun.

Published in 2013, this definitive monograph is brilliantly researched and complete. Filled with beautiful photos, it is detailed enough for the collector of David Webb’s incredible work.

David Webb defined American jewelry design of the 1960s, and this book reveals all of his glory and impact as a jewelry designer.

Besides the curating of the best pieces from each of his most famous collections, his animal bracelets and Maltese crosses, highlights include the story of the 69 gifts of state commissioned by Jackie Kennedy, and his famous evening boxes (purses).

David Webb inspired countless other jewelers, and his incredible designs are still breathtaking today. As such, this book is perfect for any lover of jewelry or jewelry history.