Meyle & Mayer was a German jewelry and silverware manufacturer founded in 1887 in Pforzheim by the jeweler Gustav Meyle (1846–1932) and the goldsmith Julius Mayer (1856–1940).

The firm is one of the notable workshops associated with the Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) movement in Germany, producing enameled silver jewelry, plique-à-jour pieces and small decorative objects. The company remained active until its destruction during the Second World War in 1945.

Meyle & Mayer was founded at a time when Pforzheim was developing into the leading centre of German jewelry and watch production after the 1872 unification of the German Reich and subsequent Gründerzeit movement. The partnership combined the technical skill of Gustav Meyle with that of Julius Mayer, a member of the Pforzheim-based Mayer family, which would later also produce the jewellery firms Victor Mayer and the Swiss branch Leicht-Mayer.

Gustav Meyle married Friederike Mayer (1853–1902), sister of Julius and of the jeweller Victor Mayer (1857–1946). The close personal and artistic ties between the families helped form a distinctive Pforzheim workshop circle specialising in fine metalwork and enamel artistry. The company was initially located at Gerberstraße 64 and moved in 1889 to Westliche Karl-Friedrich-Straße 51. The firm was later continued by Meyle's sons Julius Meyle and Gustav Meyle.

The firm's premises were destroyed in 1945 due to wartime bombing.

Meyle & Mayer was not re-established after the war, but its surviving works remain in collections and frequently appear in exhibitions and collectors' markets.

Meyle & Mayer is primarily associated with German Jugendstil jewellery style, characterised by flowing asymmetrical lines, naturalistic motifs and extensive use of enamel. Typical designs include:

• translucent and plique-à-jour enamel^[1]
• stylised insects such as dragonflies and butterflies^[2]
• enamelled female portraits^[3]
• floral and botanical motifs
• mythological themes inspired by late 19th-century German culture^[4]

The workshop produced brooches, pendants, sliding mirror lockets, buckle plates, stickpins and small silver objects. Materials included gilded silver (often marked 800 or 900), 18-carat gold, opal cabochons, paste stones, seed pearls and guilloché enamel. Many pieces carry the maker's marks DEPOSE, purity marks such as 900 or 800, a stylised dragonfly symbol or the initials MM.

Meyle & Mayer formed part of the wider Mayer jewellery dynasty in Pforzheim and Switzerland. Co-founder Julius Mayer was the brother of Victor Mayer, founder of the Pforzheim-based jewellery manufacture of the same name. Gustav Meyle's marriage to Julius's sister Friederike created a double family link between the firms.

Through other siblings, most notably Roman Mayer in Montreux and Rudolf Mayer and Anna Mayer in Luzern, the Mayer family also became connected to the Swiss jewellers Leicht-Mayer.

Meyle & Mayer's work holds an established place in the study of German Art Nouveau jewellery. Pieces by the firm are cited extensively in Fritz Falk's monograph Jugendstil-Schmuck aus Pforzheim / Art Nouveau Jewellery from Pforzheim (2009), which documents multiple representative designs and provides catalogue numbers for characteristic models such as plique-à-jour dragonfly pendants, enamelled portrait medallions and sliding mirror lockets. Several documented examples are associated with or reproduced in the collections of the Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim.

The firm's jewellery appears regularly in the international art and collectors’ market. Silver and enamel brooches, pendants and mirror lockets are among the most frequently traded objects, with high-quality examples—especially those illustrated in specialist literature—commanding higher prices. Auction realisations typically range from mid–three-figure to mid–four-figure sums depending on quality, enamel condition and provenance.

Meyle & Mayer's identifiable maker's marks, including a stylised dragonfly, the initials MM, the registration stamp DEPOSE, and purity marks such as 900, 800 or .900 18ct, assist in the authentication and scholarly study of the firm's oeuvre.

Within academic and collecting circles, Meyle & Mayer is regarded as one of the leading Pforzheim workshops of the Art Nouveau period, noted for its refined enamel work and connections to the designers of the Pforzheim School. Meyle & Mayer jewellery has been, and continues to be exhibited by museums and galleries including the Tadema Gallery London^[5] and Reuchlinhaus Pforzheim.

Although the company did not survive the Second World War, the surviving corpus of Meyle & Mayer jewellery continues to be featured in exhibitions, museum collections and scholarship devoted to Art Nouveau. The firm is recognised as a significant contributor to the artistic legacy of Pforzheim and the wider history of European decorative arts.

• Chadour-Sampson, Beatriz & Newell-Smith, Sonya (2021). Tadema Gallery London: Jewellery from the 1860s to 1960s. Stuttgart: Arnoldsche Art Publishers. ISBN 9783897905986.
• Falk, Fritz (2009). Art Nouveau Jewellery from Pforzheim. Stuttgart: Arnoldsche Art Publishers. ISBN 9783897902800.
• Glüber, W., Ratz-Coradazzi, A. & Siebert, K. (2019). Alltagstauglich: Schmuck von Jugendstil bis Art Déco – Die Sammlung Ratz-* * Coradazzi. Regensburg: Schnell + Steiner. ISBN 9783795434182.
• Mohr-Mayer, Herbert (2007). Victor Mayer (1857–1946). Heidelberg: Verlag Regionalkultur. ISBN 9783897355279.
• Nicholls, Dale (2006). Antique Enameled Jewelry. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 9780764323825.

• Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim

Category:Jewellery companies of Germany Category:Art Nouveau Category:Goldsmiths Category:German silversmiths Category:Companies established in 1887 Category:Companies disestablished in 1945