1940s Bakelite Zigzag Bangles Stack of Five

Bakelite 1940s translucent zig-zag bangles set in reddish root beer and coral swirl, set of 5 bangles, each of which is 2-1/2" by 1/3" by 1/4" (6.4 by .8by .6 cm).

Leo Beakeland (1863 -1944), a Belgian who had moved to America, was the inventor of Bakelite. Made by the condensation of phenol and formaldehyde in the presence of a catalyst and used for everything from tools and telephones to jewellery, "Bakelite" is frequently used as a generic name for all phenol formaldehyde, including Catalin and Marblette, which came later and in a wider range of colors. Bakelite is a thermoset plastic, meaning that once cast or molded and hardened, it will not melt, burn or dissolve. It can only be worked by carving, sawing, tumbling, painting and gluing.

Bakelite jewelry was at its zenith from the late 1920s till the start of WWII. The Depression era of the 1930s gave the whimsy, colorful and cheerful look of bakelite jewelry the perfect market. The sophisticated Deco and machine age look of some of the pieces made them fashion-forward for their time and timeless for ours.