parts, metal balls of varying size were added to create stepped patterns.

Necklaces with matching earrings highlighted Galalith forms such as disks, balls, cones or rods, with metal used sparingly, merely as a link. Thick silk cords in black, red or blue, combined with balls of metal or Galalith, made attractive neck jewelry; their length could be varied by the “slides” so typical of the time. Bengel’s imagination knew no bounds in its use of hollow chains: torques (collars or chokers) and bangles were made of articulated metal shower hose run through with silk ribbon that was temptingly revealed in flashes of color. Along with combinations of plastic or textile with metal, the Bengel range included a wide variety of pure metal jewelry made of wall chains (resembling brickwork) with touches of colorful lacquer.

Thanks to Hartenberger’s foresight and business acumen, Bengel soon forged ties abroad. For a decade, the company showed what it termed its “special articles for all countries – continuous creations of modern novelties – bracelets-necklaces in Galalith-Metal” at the annual Leipzig jewelry trade fair, the most important such event of the time in Germany. Retailers and wholesalers would converge there to familiarize themselves with Bengel’s newest offerings and to order customized chains and pendants. The most important retail clients supplied by Bengel were the big department stores in Paris, such as the Grands Magasins du Louvre, the Samaritaine and the Printemps, as well as Woolworth in New York.

With Sample Book Vol. XIV and model number 29,470 in 1939, Bengel’s production of metal and Galalith jewelry virtually ended; with the outbreak of World War II, the market for such products collapsed. Then, in 1939, the use of Galalith in jewelry was officially Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125