Day 10: Jakob Bengel Factory and Museum

Today we did a guided tour of the Jakob Bengel factory that was established in 1873. I found it a really interesting insight into the jewellery and metal industry of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

First we saw displays of pieces made in the factory, from the watch chains that were the factory's first products when established in the 1870s to the Art Deco and Bauhaus style costume jewellery they expanded into in the 1920s and to the anodised aluminium products they began creating in 1954. Much of the jewellery utilised galalith, a plastic made from milk protein, as an alternative to less desirable plastics like bakelite that were commonly used in costume jewellery at the time as an alternative to previous stones. Also on display were hand-engraved marking dies created by the factory's master engravers, of which the precision and detail of the craftsmanship was amazing, huge books of original designs dating from 1924 to 1939, and lists of the places to which Bengel jewellery was being exported during those years, which included a shop in Melbourne.

Then we were taken through the factory rooms where we saw machines built by the in-house tool-makers, including over 40 chain-making machines, presses, die cutters and drawing benches. We also saw many of the hand-engraved tools used to stamp and cut out designs. We got to watch a chain-making machine running at half-speed, which was absolutely mesmerising to watch. It is a testament to the way things were built to last in the past that these machines, many of which are over 100 years old, are still working today. Our guide demonstrated the process of pressing a design, cutting off excess metal around the design, and cutting out internal spaces within the design, using three different machines and precision-made pressing and cutting dies. This resulted in a small souvenir for each of us, in the form of a crown shape once produced for Belgian military uniforms.

I also really enjoyed getting a sense of the historical working conditions and attitudes towards work and tools. Our guide spoke about how the company was like a big family, where the employees all lived and worked together on-site, would typically work for the company their whole lives and often their children would be trained and employed at the factory too. He said that in those days, despite the lack of occupational health and safety, there were fewer accidents than today because people were more focused on their work and had more respect for the dangerous nature of the machines they were using. He spoke about the great pride people took in making the machines and tools, building them so they would serve well for many decades and with the thought in mind that their children might one day use them too.