Fimo German vintage costume jewelry

Fimo German vintage costume jewelry

The history of FIMO brooches began in 1939, when the well-known German doll artist Käthe Kruse (1883-1968) was trying to find a suitable material for making puppet heads. One of the manufacturers of chemical products suggested to her a material that was not yet known at that time. And the manufacturers themselves had little idea of ​​its qualities and applications. A gray mass called igelite was obtained from the waste from oil extraction. At that time, no one had any idea what possibilities it had.
The first experiments on the creation of doll heads were unsuccessful, and work was suspended. However, in 1941, Katie’s daughter, Sophie, continued to experiment with mass. So, she added solvent and paints to it until she got a plasticine mass. It was from this material that she began to create vases, mosaics, paintings, miniatures, shoe soles, figurines and toys.
In 1954, Sophie Rehbinder-Kruse founded the FIMOIK brand for manufacture of accessories, buttons, figurines, Soft Modeling Blocks and jewelry. In 1964, Eberhard Faber bought out all rights and licenses for polymer clay and started production under the name “FIMO”.

Fashion for jewelry, and especially for brooches, reached its peak of popularity in the late 1980s, and this brought success and profit to the company. Polymer clay was a perfect material for handcrafting costume jewelry. Other materials included glass beads, rhinestones, chains, faux pearls, and metal alloys.

Fimo German vintage costume jewelry