Die Perle: German Trade Journal for the International Bead and Jewelry Industry (1924-1929)
Die Perle was a technical trade journal published in Naunhof bei Leipzig, Germany, from 1924 to 1929. Although written in German, it was aimed at the entire European beadmaking community. In the early years, its full title was Die Perle: Zentralorgan für die gesamte Edel- und Kunstperlen-Industrie, Perlenschmuck, Korallen-, Bemstein- und Edelsteinbranche (The Bead: Central Organ for the Entire Gem- and Artificial-bead Industry, Bead Jewelry, Coral, Amber, and Gemstone Branch). In June of 1927, it became Die Perle: Zeitschrift für die gesamte Perlen-Industrie, sowie Schmuckwaren, Besatz- und Devotionalien-Branche (The Bead: Journal for the Entire Bead Industry, as well as the Jewelry, Embroidery, and Devotional Branch).
Each issue, with 8-12 pages, contains a number of brief articles on sundry aspects of the bead, jewelry, and button industries, as well as several departments, including:
Aus der Werkstatt des Perlenmachers (From the Workshop of the Beadmakers) which contains brief items concerning technical aspects of beadmaking.
Export-, Zoll- und Handelsnachrichten (Export-, Customs- and Commercial Report) which presents information relating to the export of beads and jewelry to specific countries worldwide.
Technischer Fragekasten (Technical Question Box) which provides answers to specific technical questions from commercial correspondents.
Bezugsquellen-Anfragen (Inquiries Regarding Sources of Supply) which contains inquiries from readers concerning sources for specific products, supplies, and equipment.
Patentschau (Patent Review) which lists recent patents relevant to bead and jewelry production.
Marktbericht (Market Report) which provides current prices for various raw materials required for the beadmaking and jewelry industry, and
Literatur, Büchermarkt, or Bücherschau (Literature, Book Mart, or Book Reviews) which announces technical publications of interest to the industry.
Each issue also contains numerous display advertisements which reveal what various enterprises were manufacturing and supplying. Some of them include illustrations of the advertiser’s factory, or the beadmaking equipment being offered for sale.
English summaries of a representative sample of the articles that deal specifically with beads are presented in “Die Perle: A 1920s German Trade Journal” in Volume 17 of BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers. A free pdf of the article is available at http://surface.syr.edu/beads/vol17/iss1/.
Hearty thanks go to Hans van der Storm for producing searchable versions of the original PDF files.
Die Perle (1924) Volume 1
- Vol. 1, No. 1
- Vol. 1, No. 2
- Vol. 1, No. 3
- Vol. 1, No. 4
- Vol. 1, No. 5
- Vol. 1, No. 6 (missing)
- Vol. 1, No. 7
- Vol. 1, No. 8
Die Perle (1925) Volume 2
- Vol. 2, No. 1 (missing)
- Vol. 2, No. 2 (missing)
- Vol. 2, No. 3 (missing)
- Vol. 2, No. 4 (missing)
- Vol. 2, No. 5 (missing)
- Vol. 2, No. 6 (missing)
- Vol. 2, No. 7 (missing)
- Vol. 2, No. 8 (missing)
- Vol. 2, No. 9 (missing)
- Vol. 2, No. 10 (missing)
- Vol. 2, No. 11 (missing)
- Vol. 2, No. 12 (missing)