MiriamHaskell c1930 Hess GoldGiltChain CappedAquaGlass ThumblessClasp Bib Choker

Most likely made in Germany during the Art Deco period, this vintage unsigned long heavy 12-pendant gold-gilt chain-link bib necklace features ball charms of gold-ringed emerald-green matte Bakelite. Hanging 13-inches from the back of the neck, the long necklace is constructed with elegant double-ring links, while it fastens with a large toggle and decorative bar. Each end of the toggle bar resembles stacked balls, recalling the oval-cartouche stacked-cannonball signature of German jewelry chain-specialist Jakob Bengel, who founded his business in Idar-Oberstein in 1873. Due to WWII, the Bengel factory, which is now a museum, permanently closed. His pre-1940 unsigned designs were largely overlooked until his factory catalogues were rediscovered decades later, which enabled 21st-Century books to be published about one of the leading manufacturers of Art Deco costume jewelry. Bengel pieces without the cartouche can be distinguished by thin metal chain links combined with single or bi-color Bakelite pendants in repeating geometric shapes like balls, semi-circles, rectangles, bars, rings or ribbed texture. As Germany was the first country to license Bakelite for factory production since the 1910s, during the next 20 years its costume-jewelry designers began to feature locally-produced colorful Bakelite instead of glass or early semi-synthetic plastics. Between the world wars during poor economic conditions in Germany, its jewelry producers who were manufacturing for export were not motivated to stamp their country on such products. The design of this Bakelite-charm necklace seems inspired by one-of-a-kind chunkier-chain charm necklaces commissioned for couture clothing ensembles by international fashion leader Parisian Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel. She only produced her trend-setting commissioned jewelry...

Like elegant multi-pendant festoon necklaces from the mid-1800s, this antique 19th-Century Italian glass choker collar by the Seguso family that founded Vetri d'Arte on the Venetian island of Murano features three one-inch-drop pendants, which here include reddish pink mouth-blown glass balls with golden reflections that are supported by brass findings and unusual ecru glass links that form a chain. The handcrafted closed links appear to be miniature versions of the style made famous in the next century by the family's descendant Archimede Seguso (1909-1999), whom Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel worked...

This vintage cherry-fruit charm necklace featuring red hand-painted wood is constructed of silver chain links and its clasp extension-chain is decorated with a single red bead. The green leaves that trim the berry beads are a surprising two-tone plastic, indicating that they were also handcrafted. Notably, the fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli is famous for including custom plastic elements in her mostly unsigned jewelry that accompanied her couture collections in the late 1930s. Please see TheMet online archive to view Schiaparelli's most well-known couture necklace structured from plastic supporting metal insects...

Featuring 12 large patinated pearlescent charms distinctly handcrafted by Parisian Louis Rousselet--the master glass-and-metal-ornament parurier for French couture fashion houses since 1920--this heavy silver chain necklace is made in the unique chunky style of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel that she introduced in the late 1920s. Capping Rousselet's signature Art-Deco-period handmade beads, his intricate multi-texture metal tops for these balls resemble organic shapes like the stems of acorns or fruit. In a bib arrangement, the duotone reflective heavy spheres--in black glass, blue-gray enameled galalith, and silver metal--conform to the cleavage of the wearer. Aside from chain jewelry commissioned by Chanel, Rousselet-style jewelry was usually constructed with thin wires or braided string to enable his beads to attract the most attention. Notably, this necklace fastens with an enlarged spring-ring clasp that became associated with increasingly heavy Chanel costume jewelry. Like 1920s Chanel jewelry by Rousselet, the necklace is both unmarked for French origin and unsigned. In subsequent decades, variations of chunky-charm chain necklaces were reproduced by Chanel with her other paruriers using different materials in which they specialized, such as a similar Chanel-signed piece in the 1960s by bronze-maker Maison Denez...

A Victorian long chain and slide, the chain of an interlocked double-link style measuring approximately 148 x 0.5cm, with an abstract slide attachment with enamel floral motif and buckle set with seed pearls, measuring approximately 2.9 x 2.2cm, circa 1860, gross weight 75.8 grams. A Victorian long chain and slide in very good condition. Unmarked tested as 18ct chain...

A 19th Century 18ct gold link chain, with textured figure of eight links, all in yellow gold, circa 1880, length 114cm, width 0.6cm, gross weight ...

A gold Brazilian snake chain with an engraved barrel clasp, measuring approximately 110 cm (43.5 inches) in length, hallmarked 18 carat gold, London 2004, bearing Bentley & Skinner s...

A handmade silver and gold necklace by Lucie Heskett-Brem the Goldweaver of Lucerne, inspired by Darcey Bussell the necklace consisting of twenty-three silver flower-heads each centr...