22 July 1908, Coos Bay, OR, USA -
23 October 1997, Venice Beach, CA, USA
Claire Falkenstein's jewellery developed from experimentations in small-scale sculpture especially during her early career, and several pieces were included in the Second National exhibition of Contemporary Jewelry, held in the Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis, in 1948. In 1950 she moved to Paris where she continue to make jewels from inexpensive materials such as nickel wire and plastic beads to help make end meet. Glass played an increasingly prominent role in her jewellery as she began to incorporate it into her metal sculptures in the 1950s and 1960s, like the gate for Peggy Guggenheim's Palazzo Venier dei Leoni in Venice (1961).
During the dozen years she lived in Paris, her jewellery was exhibited widely, including Werkbund in Berlin in 1952, the Institute of Contemporary Art in London in 1952, and in Antagonismes II in Paris in 1962.