Bakelite Jewellery

Around 1907, Belgian-born chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland took two ordinary chemicals, phenol and formaldehyde, mixed them in a sealed autoclave, and subjected them to heat and pressure. The sticky, amber-coloured resin he produced in his Yonkers laboratory was the first plastic ever to be created entirely from chemicals, and the first material to be made entirely by man.

Dr. Baekeland's new material - he called it Bakelite - opened the door to the Age of Plastics and seeded the growth of a worldwide industry that today employs more than 60 million people. Today, synthetic plastics are everywhere. They are just as familiar to us as wood or metal, and as easily taken for granted.
The height of Bakelite jewellery was the late 1930s, up until the end of the Art Deco period. The designs were quite popular in mass merchandise stores such as Sears and Roebuck. However there were also some famous names working with the material and creating Bakelite jewellery including Chanel and Van Cleef and Arpel. Oddly enough Bakeland allowed the patent to expire and the Catalin Corporation bought it. They began creating their own Bakelite jewellery marketed as Bakelite-Catalin. The pieces were sold in both expensive stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and smaller stores such as Woolworth’s.

Bakelite jewellery was available in a variety of colours, but brown, green, red, and white were the most popular colour choices. Over time though, exposure to the light and particles in the air have caused many of these colours to change. A good example is a bracelet that was once white, but now looks pale brown in colour.

There are also different ways in which individuals can check Bakelite jewellery to ensure it’s authentic. One of the best ways is to touch a red hot pin against the back of the piece. Real Bakelite can’t melt or be burned so the match shouldn’t harm the piece. If it burns or melts, that’s a sign that the piece is actually plastic or another type of fake Bakelite.

Bakelite is used to make various type of jewellery –

Bangles

       

                                                                                 

  Pendents

         

Earrings