Vintage Jakob Bengel Art Deco machine age chrome and olive green galalith cabochon geometric 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 of the casein based early plastic called galalith and a stunning machine age design in chrome.

There are graduated chrome rings around the galalith piece and hexagonal chrome panels on either side of the centrepiece. This piece is really intricately designed - absolutely stunning and a valuable collector's piece. It has a length of about 16 inches and is in very good vintage condition.

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.