Vintage Coppola e Toppo Beaded Shell Earrings 1960s

Postwar Italian fashion jewelry company Coppola e Toppo created flamboyant, larger-than-life accessories that earned the brand legions of admirers in luxury houses and retail shops all over Europe. Working with unconventional materials such as gunmetal, crystal beads and Murano glass, Coppola e Toppo became known for its range of distinctive, vibrantly colored necklaces, earrings, bracelets and more. 

Today, Coppola e Toppo is revered as an iconic producer of costume, or fashion, jewelry, which is designed to accessorize with current fashions and typically made with inexpensive materials. The Venice-born Lyda Coppola (1915–86) worked in postwar Milan at a tailor and learned jewelry design with Czech jewelry maker Ada Pollitzer. She launched her jewelry house in the late 1940s, and when she was married, she added her surname Toppo to the company name and was supported by her brother Bruno Coppola in her endeavor. 

Although a feature in Vogue that ran shortly after Coppola e Toppo took shape proved to be a significant piece of publicity for the Italian brand — which would soon design lavish confections for the likes of Lanvin, Balmain, Valentino and others — the 1960s are said to have been a turning point for Coppola e Toppo, especially as the era’s fashion-conscious jewelry lovers increasingly became enamored with candy-colored gems. An embrace of free expression and fascination with cultures around the world took hold and resulted in vibrant jewelry with global influences.

Christian Dior and Balenciaga purchased numerous pieces from Coppola e Toppo that would adorn their models and be sold in their retail spaces, and many other clients and customers soon followed. Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli commissioned the jewelers to create a collection, which they titled Bijoux Voyagers. 

In 2020, Italian businessman Pietro Paolo Longhitano and designer Rossella Jardini announced plans to relaunch the Coppola e Toppo brand, with a focus on the style and materials that made the brand famous in the first place.

On 1stDibs, find Coppola e Toppo necklaces, bracelets, earrings and more.