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Renowned for intricate and sophisticated jewelry, the Victor Mayer company has created personal adornments of the highest quality for over a century. Using complex guilloche and enamel techniques, the German manufacturer is known for its hoop earrings, pendants and cufflinks, while its authentic Victor Mayer Fabergé egg pendants, featuring delicate embellishments and exquisite enameling, have been especially popular with generations of connoisseurs.

Aftering studying at the Grand Ducal School of Arts and Crafts in Weimar, Germany, and training for three years in Vienna, Victor Mayer opened his jewelry business in 1890, in Pforzheim, Germany. His craftsmanship rapidly gained renown across Europe.

Ever mindful of evolving tastes, the company underwent three major style changes in Mayer’s lifetime, beginning with a focus on the Belle Époque of the late 19th century. It later adapted when Mayer saw that Art Nouveau was taking off around the world. The company remained operational during the first World War, and then once again adjusted its style to match the rising influence of Art Deco. 

World War II shut down the Victor Mayer company, as jewelry was considered a non-essential wartime industry. After the war ended, the company slowly reopened and experienced a slight uptick in business. 

Mayer died in 1946. His son, Oscar, and businessman Edmund Mohr managed the company together until the 1960s. Under Mohr and Mayer, it became a leader in producing fine accessories for gentlemen, while continuing to create jewelry for women.

In the 1960s, Mayer’s son, Hubert, and Mohr’s son, Herbert, succeeded their fathers. The duo steered the company in a new — but classic — creative direction. While in art school, Mohr had absorbed all he could regarding the artistic patronage of the Tsars. In the 1980s, he designed the company’s Esprit de Fabergé collection, which was modeled after the exuberant style of the master Fabergé crafters.

In 1989, the long-dormant House of Fabergé appointed the Victor Mayer company to be its workmaster until 2009. During this time, the company not only grew its customer base throughout Europe, Southeast Asia and North America, it revived the Fabergé jewelry line.

In 2005, Mohr retired, and his son, Marcus, took over the company’s management. Under his leadership, the Victor Mayer jewelry company continues to thrive and produce incomparable works of timeless elegance.

Find antique and vintage Victor Mayer necklaces, rings, bracelets and other jewelry on 1stDibs. 

Whether you’re layering multiple jewelry pieces or opting for a single strand, vintage pendant necklaces are versatile accessories that can elevate your casual wear as easily as they can add a creative flourish to your formal attire.

The earliest jewelry was less about accessorizing than it was about wearers arming themselves with amulets. In Ancient Egypt, some amulets featured a loop so that they could be strung around one’s neck. While rubies have long been one of the few gemstones that can give diamonds a run for their money, members of some ancient civilizations valued the stones from the get-go, donning ruby pendants as well as other stones with the belief that these adornments would bring protection, healing powers or strength. Today, we still wear our charm bracelets and charm pendants around our necks for good luck.

Later, pendant necklaces, like most fine jewelry, were worn strictly by royalty or the upper class and conferred wealth and prestige. This changed over time, thankfully, as wearing jewelry became more widespread, a democratized means of personal expression.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, pendant necklaces evolved from their status as spiritual amulets, but the jewels still carried deep personal significance. Victorian pendants, in particular, were part of the “mourning jewelry” tradition. Wearers would embed their pendants with locks of hair from a deceased loved one as a way of grieving in the wake of a loss. In the case of cameo jewelry, some pendants were even decorated with miniature hand-carved portraits in a detailed raised relief. Today, portraiture is still a characteristic of many of the hand-carved pendant necklaces offered by Italian jewelry house Scala Gioielli.

Luxury fine jewelry brands such as Cartier, BVLGARI and David Yurman offer their own unique interpretations of the cherished accessory, embellishing platinum or gold pendant necklaces with diamonds, sapphires and other stones.

On 1stDibs, find an extraordinary range of vintage pendant necklaces and other necklaces today.