What’s bakelite? It’s actual name polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride is more than I’d like to say when talking about it. But from its name, you can probably tell that it’s a form of plastic. In fact, it’s the first trade name for the first synthesized plastic. What’s the big deal with it, you ask? Well, it was all the rage in the 1920s - 1940s. In fact, there are entire communities dedicated to collecting these fabolous artifacts of the 20th century.

America wasn’t the only place to become enarmored with this new material. Artisans around the world were fascinated with it, about as much as they were with natural resins and plastics like galalith (casein plastic developed in the 1890s) through resins used by our ancient progenitors. Bakelite meant new shapes, colors, and “feel” to jewelry. We’ve adorned ourselves with bone, metal, and minerals. Plastics are just an extension of that and bakelite jewelry became a rage around the world. We all but stopped producing bakelite in the 1940s as technology provided us with better and less expensive ways to make synthetic polymers (plastics). But the jewelry remains.

This one is a vintage Tibetan bakelite and sterling silver bangle. It’s beautifully adorned with carvings of various insects (butterflies) and animals. Why? We tend to adorn ourselves with elements of nature. To me, the interesting part is that it’s an interesting juxtaposition of the first synthetic polymer with the animals from nature. Anyway, it’s an awesome bangle! Bakelite is really awesome! And the animal repousse work is really beautiful.

To care for this piece, just wipe it with a lint free cloth. You can also use castile soap to clean it from time to time. This piece is 2.47in * 3.14 = 7.75 inches. Measure your 4 fingers at the knuckle (no thumb!). If the measurements around your knuckles measure less than 7.75 inches, you can wear this bangle.

46.83g / di 2.47 in. / W 0.64 in.