Gustave Sherman

Guatave Sherman ("Gus") (1910 – 1984) was a Canadian costume jewellery maker who started Sherman & Company Ltd. (1949-1980). In time, his costume jewellery was sold across Canada and the United States. "Sherman is the most recognized and collectible costume jewellery in Canada," wrote a long-time collector.

Biography
Sherman was born in Montreal to Jewish parents from Lithuania. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force as a navigator during the Second World War and after he was demobbed, he worked in insurance and jewellery sales. After learning about the costume jewllery business from a friend he had known since childhood, Hy Mendelson who had bought the Canadian franchise to manufacture Jay Kel and Jay Flex in Canada, in 1949, he began Sherman & Company Ltd. in Outremont, a borough of Montreal. When it started, the company had only one employee, a Ukrainian, Dmytro ("Jimmy") Kurica was jewellery maker who had left Jay Kel with Sherman.

Sherman made his business part of the growing market for costume jewellery, but used Swarovski crystals, new and different cuts and colours, and superior findings and plating methods by contrast with most other jewellery makers. The company's primary stone supplier was GH Ashley in Toronto.

By the 1950s, Sherman had established himself as Canada’s costume jeweler, and his work was starting to appear on runways in Paris and New York. In 1956, Dior asked him for a new crystal inspired by the northern-lights and the company responded with Aurora Borealis, a multicoloured coating over simulated crystals for the holiday season. It is still popular in his jewellery today, along with many other colours and effects.

Sherman's jewellery praised today for its artistic use of colour, sense of movement, three-dimensional effect and the resulting sophistication and elegance. It is extensive branded.

Selected public collections
Sherman jewellery is in the collections of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (92 objects) and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Legacy
In 2024, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick held an exhibition titled Gustave Sherman – Jewels of Elegance, organized by the Andrew and Laura McCain Art Gallery in Florenceville, NB.