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

This necklace is in silver tone chrome - I love the engineering that goes into the pieces. The necklace looks identical worn either way around - the front is identical to the reverse. It is unusual to see so many of the twisted metal pieces that here comprise the fringe around the length of the necklace. It is a very heavy, substantial piece.

This piece has a length of about 19 inches and it fastens with a secure, large spring ring clasp. It is a fabulous quality necklace and it is in very good vintage condition. The last picture shows a book piece necklace from the Jakob Bengel factory in 1932 that also uses the twisted rod component parts.

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.