Remembering
Yvonne Bertheaud Brom Brooks
August 4,1925-July 9, 2009

In 1925 a little girl was born in Berkeley, the last child of 5, to Lorene Gillerman Bertheaud and her carpenter husband Fred Bertheaud. He would remodel homes while the family lived in them and they would move on the the next one. They bought THE SILVER DOLLAR in El Cerrito in 1940's and moved into their family home above the bar which they ran for 20 years. All of the grand kids have fond memories of their times spent in that home full of family gatherings and music coming from below. On holidays when the bar was closed it would become the theatre and dance hall for all the grandchildren and to this day, these cousins share a special closeness.

When Yvonne was little she was already becoming mesmerized by her mother's inexpensive costume jewelry and she played with it whenever she could, watching the sparkles of the rhinestone facets in the light and treasuring whatever she was allowed to keep. She worked in the Costume Jewelry Department of the City of Paris in San Francisco. She thought she had the job of her dreams and began purchasing her most favorites. Her friends all knew of her passion and when their loved ones passed away they would claim the gemstone jewelry and pass on the rest to the one person they knew would delight in it. Oh how she enjoyed going through the Victorian, Art Nouveau and Art Deco pieces, but most of all she loved the large colored rhinestone pieces.

In 1945 Yvonne married Robert Brom, of Wisconsin. Yvonne lived in the home they purchased in 1946 in Richmond until she passed away 62 years later. Through her married years and the births of her 4 children, Sandy, Bob "Bo", Steve and Lisa, her passion continued until the basement, attic and closets were overloaded with box after box of costume jewelry. Her only purpose in collecting was the pure enjoyment of the beauty of the pieces. Playing with a tray of jewelry made her so happy and it was contagious to everyone around her.

Almost 60 years after she began collecting many of the designers had become famous....Schiaparelli, Chanel, Carnegie, Eisenberg, Haskell, etc. and their jewelry had become highly desirable for their innovative designs and hand set stones. Some of Yvonne's pieces were of museum quality. Auction houses began including some of these now antique or vintage pieces in their catalogues. Authors began borrowing Yvonne's jewelry to photograph for the growing genre of antique jewelry books being published. She was often told that she had the largest collection of vintage costume jewelry known.

When she was in her 70's she was ready to share her collection with others and she and her daughter, Sandy, opened their store "The Family Jewels" in the newly restored 1920's Orinda Theater Square. Many of the shoppers shared their own nostalgic stories and Yvonne was in her glory. She made everyone feel special, because to her, everyone was special. She was glamorous and wore jewelry well. Yvonne and Sandy traveled to New York to meet with interested dealers and she loved every minute of it. Collectors and dealers from around the world would come to the shop to meet her and see her collection.

Yvonne came up with an unusual concept of renting for special events, and her jewelry became a staple of the Miss California Pageant and the Berkeley Ballet, plus Proms and Opera Opening Nights.

That little girl who started collecting in the 1920's turned her collection into a source of joy for many of us who loved her and loved her passion. She felt it kept her feeling young and excited about life. Until two weeks before her passing she was still enjoying playing with her jewels. If you look around your will see that her legacy lives on in brilliant splendor, in and outside of our hearts.