A solid fourteen carat yellow gold car key for a Mercedes Benz.  These types of keys were made by jewellers and offered for sale to car owners in the 1950/60's.  The gold emblem part would be added to the top of your existing car key, so it was actually used to oepn and start the vehicle.  So, beneath this iconic badge is a real Mercedes Benz car key, which is a brass car key!

There are two options for this key.  It can be added to a key chain as a decorative item, or a good jeweller can open up the badge and add it to your own vintage Mercedes car key.  The back of the key has "Mahalo" engraved into the back.  The Hawaiian language has offered a number of words to the English language. Some Hawaiian words are known to non-Hawaiian speakers, and a few have also been assimilated into the English language and aloha is a good example of that!  It has a number of meanings "hello", "love", or "goodbye", or mahalo, meaning "thank you".  This is only lightly engraved into the back, so it can be polished out, if desired. 

The key is stamped "14k" and "Avedon" for renowned American jeweller, Harvey Avedon.  Avedon began business in East Elmhurst, New York, in 1945. Yet, the first use of Avedon name was in 1935. So, according to Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, on October 2, 1935 Harvey Avedon filed an application for patent registration of two of his designs.  A talented designer, Harvey Avedon opened his jewelry shop in 1945, and worked there until his retirement in 1976. During this period he collaborated with such iconic companies as Tiffany & Co. Avedon was known for his gentlemen’s jewelry, silver and gold cufflinks, pocket lighters, tie clips, belt buckles, and other accessories.

In 1977, one of the largest manufacturers of jewelry “Richline Group, Inc” purchased Avedon trademark. Noteworthy, Richline Group Inc owned similar jewelry trademark “Taylor Avedon” registered in 2007. Both trademarks ceased to exist in 2006 and 2011, respectively.

Made in USA, circa 1960's.