Willow Neiger Brother's Collection

  Norbert and Max Neiger began making Jewellery in 1905 in the town of Gablonz, Czechoslovakia. Their fame reached its height in the 1920's as they created exquisite pieces of costume jewellery and scent bottles using Bohemian glass. The Neiger Brother's took advantage of the Egyptian Revival craze, beginning with the discovery of King Tut's tomb in 1922. They further added more "exotic" lines, with Chinese and Indian motifs producing hypnotizing brooches, beautiful beaded necklaces and fascinating bracelets, all of the highest quality.

 In 1938 Gablonz was taken as part of the German Reich - the Neiger's initially escaped into the adjacent Czech, part of Bohemia, where they continued to work on a small scale. They were later arrested in Prague and in 1942 they tragically met their end at Auschwitz. 

 Each necklace in the Willow Neiger Collection is vintage and original. Some are perfect, some have a few nibbles to the glass and some have been restrung due to the fragility of the original silk thread. The Neiger Brother's only produced jewellery for 30 years so only a finite amount are still available today. The market for these necklaces has grown over the past 10 years and after being written about in Vogue are terribly hard to come across, especially in good condition. Each piece is exceptionally rare and a testament to the creativity of the brilliant Neiger Brother's.

As a fashionable teenager in the roaring twenties my Grandmother Ruth wore her hair short in an Eton crop and had a collection of cloche hats and long flapper necklaces. We still have a few of her pieces. My favourite, which my mother still wears, is a Bohemian glass necklace designed by the Neiger Brothers. The Willow Neiger Collection is in memory of Ruth – her love of life and sense of humour