Antique Bracelet - Gold Plated Jakob Bengal Bracelet with Byzantine Link for Small Wrists

Antique Jakob Bengal Bracelet - Gold Bracelet with Byzantine link - for small wrists

Elegant Design
Genuine Antique.

Gold Byzantine Chain Bracelet with Spring Ring Closure
From the 1920's/30's

Chain measures 16 cm (7")

"These Antique Gold Bracelets were manufactured by Jakob Bengel, a chain and costume jewelry factory, founded by Jakob Bengel in 1873 in Idar-Oberstein, Germany.

Until 1920, the company specialized in the production of watch chains and chatelaines (pendants for pocket watches). In the 1920's and 1930's, it became one of the leading manufactures of fashion jewelry in the Art Deco style. Most of these items are dated 1900 to 1930.

It was during the Bauhaus and Art Deco period that designers were looking to obtain new materials and inspiration to produce costume jewelry. Inspired by French Avant-Garde and other fashion trendsetters such as Coco Chanel, Bengel started to produce experimental jewelry.

The pieces, catalogued from 1924-1939, combined brass and chrome with geometric shapes of colored galaxite.

Taken over for war production, jewelry ceased being made and the factory was closed entirely in 1939. Undiscovered until the late 1990s, in 2001 it was turned into a museum and showcases the original machinery, drawings and pattern books.

Famous for his experimental pieces, designer fashioned stainless steel, chrome, nickel, glass, and Galalith into geometric shapes. Galalith (a synthetic plastic material manufactured from casein/milk protein and formaldehyde) is similar to Bakelite and Catalin). Usually unsigned and unmarked, Bengel jewelry is highly collectible."