Beautiful, Vintage brooch, Bettina Von Walhof gilt hand with gemstone.

Beautiful, Vintage brooch, Bettina Von Walhof gilt hand with gemstone.

Size. 6.5. X 4 cm

Bettina von Walhof is a designer of rhinestone jewelry who got her start in the 1980s. She later partnered with her daughter to expand the von Walhof lines. Collectors of bold and whimsical costume jewelry seek out the oversized pieces designed by this mother and daughter team. 

Bettina von Walhof, born in Germany, began designing jewelry in the 1980s while living in Sarasota, Florida. Interestingly, she spent her early life as an animal trainer working with Johnny Weissmuller and performing with her animals around Europe. Her love of animals led her to incorporate many into her jewelry designs. 

The popularity of von Walhof’s jewelry increased exponentially in the 1990s when more and more avid collectors of rhinestone jewelry noticed her designs. Many of these pieces were oversized and incorporated many sparkling stones. They were sold in Jacobsen stores, Ritz-Carlton Hotel boutiques, and shops in Germany and Japan. "Personalities such as Madeleine Albright, Hillary Clinton, and the members of the royal families in Europe" all wore her jewelry, according to author Nancy Yunker Trowbridge in her book “Christmas Tree: O Christmas Tree.”