Henkel & Grosse: 100 Years of Passion for Grosse + Bijoux Christian Dior

The jewellery firm Süddeutsche Gold- und Haar-Bijouterie, founded in 1907 by Heinrich Henkel and Florentin Grosse, experienced its first successes with costume jewellery made of bronze, aluminium, wood, bakelite and galalite. Renamed Henkel & Grosse, the firm soon established its first business contacts to the US. In the early 1930s it began working with the fashion labels Lanvin and Schiaparelli in Paris as well as with Harrods in London and Saks in New York. The company was awarded the diplome d’honneur for their designs in 1937 at the “Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la vie Moderne” in Paris. Since 1955 Henkel & Grosse worked together with Christian Dior and for fifty years held a license to produce and distribute Dior jewellery worldwide.

With regard to Henkel & Grosse’s own jewellery lines, the firm always maintained its independence, thereby setting their own creations apart from Dior jewellery. For example, the line Grosse Bijoux, which was expanded in the 1960s to include the collections Grosse Sterling und Grosse Gold – with fashion always dictating their design. The enterprise, led by four generations of the Grosse family, had at its zenith over 600 employees and a worldwide distribution. Dior and Grosse costume jewellery was designed in Pforzheim. Produced in Pforzheim and in the US, later also in Asia, it stood for modern design and technical innovation. In 2005 the family withdrew from the business and the firm became part of the Dior group.

The first comprehensive monograph on Henkel & Grosse with numerous illustrations of jewellery from Grosse and Dior. Its exciting history is portrayed against the backdrop of the fashion created by the great couture designers of the twentieth century.