Mexican Jewelry Trek

While reading up on vintage Mexican jewelry, as one does, I encountered the work of Sigi Pineda and was struck by one particular form he uses again and again, which strongly suggests the iconic Starfleet insignia. Pineda’s work, dating to the mid-1950s, was designed first. These are some examples of his jewelry, which could easily adorn a Starfleet uniform, and wall hangings, which would look at home on any Starfleet admiral’s office wall.

It’s generally believed that William Ware Theiss, Star Trek’s original costume designer, derived the insignia from the red chevron of the NASA logo, designed in 1959, but it’s impossible to ignore the similarity to Pineda’s work. Was Theiss aware of these sleek, midcentury-modern designs? Maybe they had just entered the general gestalt, or perhaps it’s all just an uncanny coincidence. Theiss is gone, and we’ll never know.