GROSSE – HENKEL & GROSSE
The firm of Henkel & Gross was founded in 1907 by two friends and was based in Pforzheim in Germany. They specialized in jewellery and watch chains made out of woven hair! Pforzheim was destroyed in WW11 and the company had to make a fresh start. They made such high quality costume jewellery that they attracted the attention of Dior and in 1955 a licensing agreement was signed with Dior. There were two very distinct collections – Bijoux Christian Dior and Grosse. Grosse had two themes – Factory Jewels and the ‘Real’ look. I sometimes see references on the internet to items marked Grosse which are attributed to Dior. This did not happen. The ranges are quite separate. In 1959 Henkel & Gross started making their own glass stones. In 2005 Henkel & Gross were taken over by Dior and became Les Ateliers Bijoux GmbH in Pforzheim. The Fattedad family took over the Grosse collections which are now based in Hong Kong. (Sorry I cannot put the French accents on Grosse). All the information in this article is from the book ‘Grosse + Bijoux Christian Dior by Arnoldsche Art Publishers – Vivienne Becker. The web site has an overview of the company’s history.