Vintage Jakob Bengel Art Deco brickwork / mauerwerk machine age chrome choker necklace, unusual design, excellent condition

Vintage Art Deco chrome choker necklace produced in Germany in the 1930s by the Jakob Bengel factory. This is a classic example of their sought after brickwork / mauerwerk jewellery, which used chain construction previously used for watch chains in a new and innovative way for costume jewellery.

This necklace is an unusual example in shiny chrome, with some links with shapes I haven't seen before. I love the engineering that goes into the pieces - the necklace looks identical worn either way around - the front is identical to the reverse.

In this example, there is a central long section where the brickwork contains cylindrical pinks and ball bearing rows within the design. Two short sections around the back of the neck on either side of the clasp are simple smooth brickwork links I have more often seen in Bengel bracelets. It is a classic Art Deco geometric design in the machine age style - to me it is simple and chic.

This piece has a length of about 17 inches and it fastens with a secure spring ring clasp. It is in really very good vintage condition and I haven't found any wear on the shiny chrome surfaces. This is always lovely to find given that these pieces are nearly 100 years old.

Jakob Bengel was a chain and costume jewellery factory, founded by Jakob Bengel in 1873 in Idar-Oberstein, Germany.

Until 1920, the company specialised in the production of watch chains and chatelaines (pendants for pocket watches). In the 1920s and 1930s, it became one of the leading manufacturers of fashion jewellery in the Art Deco style.

It was during the Bauhaus and Art Deco period that designers were looking to obtain new materials and inspiration to produce costume jewellery. Inspired by French Avant Garde and other fashion trendsetters such as Coco Chanel, Bengel started to produce experimental jewellery. The pieces, catalogued 1924-1939, combined brass and chrome with geometric shapes of coloured galalith.