Vintage Jakob Bengel Art Deco machine age chrome and olive green galalith bow necklace

Fabulous Jakob Bengel necklace from the 1930s. This design uses many of Bengel's characteristic component parts including machine age bar links and a statement centrepiece. This central section has a circular cabochon made of the casein based early plastic called galalith and a stunning bow design in chrome. There are two galalith beads in the same olive green on either side of the centrepiece. The colour looks very different in different lights, it is very attractive.

This piece is really intricately designed - absolutely stunning and a valuable collector's piece. Another similar Bengel necklace was worn by Jennifer Saunders in Kenneth Branagh's 2022 movie 'Death on the Nile' - an Agatha Christie murder mystery set in the late 1930s, as shown in the final picture. It is in very good vintage condition - a small amount of wear to the chrome which is hardly visible.

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.