There are many legends, secrets, conjectures about the Selro company and its extraordinary jewelry. She has worked in the jewelry market for only ten years, but still we, connoisseurs of vintage jewelry, admire the original design and unique beauty of Selro jewelry.
The company was founded in 1949 (according to other sources in 1950) in New York (USA) by an emigrant from Odessa, Paul Selinger.
The fate of the founder himself is interesting. Pavel Selinger was born in 1911, and earlier his name was that, in Odessa in the family of an ordinary tailor. His father dies early and leaves his wife and two children in financial distress. During the revolutionary years, the situation escalated and Pavel’s mother decided to emigrate to her older brother in New York. It is known that for a very long time, having traveled several countries, in all sorts of ways, the Selinger family gets to the USA only in 1927. And as we know, 1927 is the height of the American depression.
Upon arrival, young Pavel and his sister Fanny start working in his uncle’s jewelry shop. It could be assumed that years later, having appreciated all the profitability of the jewelry business, Pavel opens his own production of jewelry … Yes, everything would be exactly like that, but before that … After receiving citizenship, Paul Selinger in 1942 went to Marine Corps of the US Army, and in 1945, after graduation, continues to serve in North Africa and Japan.
And only in 1948, Sergeant Selinger returned to civilian life. It must be assumed that he was interested in jewelry production even when he worked for his uncle in a store, because. returning from the war, he gets a job at one of the oldest American manufactories, H. Pomeranz & Co. NY. This company produced jewelry buckles, buttons, cufflinks.
The company Selro quickly gained momentum in production.
Selro jewelry was originally aimed at a design completely different from the jewelry of the time. At the initial stage, all Selro jewelry was not marked, and in the future this was not always done. They were sold with branded labels or in a branded box.
What caused the decline in the production of companies is not exactly known, but it seems to me a more plausible version is the deterioration in the health of Mr. Paul Selinger. He married rather late, at 52, he had no children. And since he had no heirs, there was no one to continue his business. He died at the age of 79 on December 16, 1990.
There are many collectors of this excellent vintage costume jewelry in Russia. I would like to note once again that many products were released unsigned, but this does not bother true collectors at all. You can always recognize the products of the company “Selro” for sure, a distinctive feature of jewelry and reference literature on the collection of this company comes to the rescue.