The Man…The Edifice…and The Diamond and Sapphire Brooch
The Man: He was born in 1875 in Wamego, Kansas. His middle name was
Percy…and so…till the end of this tale…I’ll call him Percy. I’m
sure he wouldn’t mind. He attended public school in Ellis, Kansas…
and when he was of age…he became an apprentice in the Union Pacific
machine shop. He subsequently worked for various railroads and became
a plant manager for the American Locomotive Co. He quit in his job in
1912 and accepted a job as works manager for the Buick company at
half his previous salary. In order to take a job at half his current
pay… I would have to say the man had incredible vision…or an
incredibly enlarged set of gonads…or perhaps both. By 1916 he was
president of the company and by 1920…after having made Buick the
strongest company within the General Motors stronghold…he resigned
and went into retirement. However…his retirement only lasted six
months…at which time he became director of the Willys-Overland
company and of the Maxwell-Chambers Motor company. In 1925 Percy
renamed the companies and gave them his last name. He died in 1940 in
Great Neck, Long Island, New York. As a quick addendum…in 1960 the
corporation with Percy’s name became the only automobile manufacturer
to have a major NASA contract which was that of building the first
stage of the Saturn I booster rocket.
The Building: Percy was instrumental in the creation of a building
that was destined to be taller than the Eiffel Tower and would
predominate-- for a short while–as the tallest building in the world.
It was…and still is…the most identifiable building in America. In
November of 1929 Percy and his architects unveiled the building with
its stainless steel dome…a building that would become a shrine of
wonderment to and in the world of skyscrapers. I am not going into
the details of the building. This is… after all and ultimately…a
tidbit about jewelry. I am sure you all know who our man is by
now…but I will continue in my inimicable and mysterious vein. One
last little comment about the building before I go into the brooch. If
you’re on the street and you walk by the building…you’re in for a
bit of a disappointment. At street level…on the outside…it’s a
bland structure hardly worth the time of day to notice. It is only
from a distance that our edifice takes on a magnificence that dazzles
the eye and mind.
The Brooch: Calibr� Sapphires and Triangle Sapphires and round and
baguette diamonds mark the Chrysler Building Brooch. The spire top is
a faceted onyx and the whole piece of made of platinum. It has
gargoyles which one can see near the base. It’s a stunner my
friends. And it commemorates the life of one of the geniuses of the
industrialized world…Walter Percy Chrysler. It is signed by an M.
Parozzi.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where you will
scroll down the table menu till you get to the box that says
Tidbits…and inside the box where it says Tidbit Graphics…click on
the link that says: Building…where you will see the graphic of our
Brooch.
And there ya have it. That’s it for this week folks. Catch you all next
week. Benjamin Mark
TYLER-ADAM CORP.–Jewelry Manufacturers
Tel: 1-800-20-TYLER
E-Mail to: webmaster@tyler-adam.com