Charmed Bracelets

My Favorite Frog: SOLD

I've had this vintage sterling silver frog for some time, just waiting for design inspiration. 

And now, here he is. 

I used five strands of gemstone beads: one of beautiful natural turquoise beads in a small tube shape, and four strands of Chinese chrysocola in various shapes: round, square, and small rondelles. The Chinese chrysocola is a mottled blue that goes perfectly with turquoise. The lighter areas of the beads are turquoise in color and the rest are a deeper blue. 

The strands are gathered into cones of hammered sterling silver, and the toggle clasp is adjustable to fit wrists from about 6 to 7 inches.

The bracelet is $160, which reflects the value and quality of the charm (plus the "cuteness factor," of course. 

Price: $160, this includes postage, insurance, and so on. 

The Child Jeanne and Frogs

I grew up in a small town, playing with frogs. 

In the 1960s in Hoquiam, Washington, we had tree frogs in the yard, and bigger frogs and bullfrogs in the swamp at the end of our street. Hoquiam is at sea level (altitude: 0), and is only a few miles from the rainiest spot in the continental United States--a pretty good environment for the little guys with webbed toes. 

My sons grew up in Seattle, and, sadly, it's pretty hard to find a frog inside the city limits (I know one or two places where they can be found, but I'm not telling). We used to have to go to the zoo to see frogs. And the boys had projects at their grade school where they hatched tadpoles and then released them in Ravenna Park near our house, but the frogs did not survive. Environmental change.  

Not only did I play with frogs as a child in Hoquiam, I also played with ladybugs, beetles, tadpoles, bumble bees, baby trout in the rivers, grasshoppers, banana slugs in the woods ... but NOT the sick bat that attached itself to the porch of our house one year. I successfully raised a few birds that fell out of their nests while learning to fly.

I never played with ants, that was Becky, my youngest sister. 

So I have an affection for frogs that has now spilled over into my jewelry. 

More frog pieces to come. 

Photos: @ Monica Strasen 2011. 

@ Jeanne Sather 2011. 

Love & Marriage & Baby Carriage

The wooden doll you see here is the very first doll I ever owned. (She never had a name.)

Somewhere, my mother has a black-and-white Kodak snapshot of me holding the doll upside down and chewing on it. I think I was less than a year old.

The doll came back to me not all that long ago (maybe 15 years ago), when my mother was cleaning house.

She usually hangs from the knob on my bedroom door, and sometimes she models for photos, like this one. 

The jewelry she is draped in is from a group I call "Love & Marriage & Baby Carriage." Two of these bracelets are still available. I snatched the baby mug off the bracelet on the left to make a necklace for a new mother. 

If you suddenly want that bracelet and no other, e-mail me and I will see if I can find a similar baby cup. These were a popular charm in the 1950s, when women got all domestic.

Regardless of your feelings about the 1950s, it is a very cute charm.

See: Newborn on a Doctor's Scale

Baby Shoe Bracelet

Baby Carriage

Photos: @ Monica Strasen 2010.

@ Jeanne Sather 2011.  

Asian-Inspired Bracelet

 This bracelet has a very Asian feel, without a single Chinese character in sight!

I used a triple strand of black onyx beads on a sterling silver slide clasp.

The three charms are a fan made of Thai silver, a circle of bone, and a round bead that is butterscotch bakelite, one of my favorite materials. 

The charms complement each other beautifully in size, shape, and color, and lie nicely on your wrist without being too jangle-y. 

The bracelet is a standard length, 7 1/2 inches, and can't be adjusted because of the type of clasp that I've used. 

This bracelet is one of a kind. If you have a larger or smaller wrist, I can make you something similar that will fit. Just e-mail me: jeanne.sather@gmail.com

Price: $100. The price includes taxes, postage, and insurance to U.S. destinations. 

Photo: @ Monica Strasen 2010.

Design and text: @ Jeanne Sather 2011.

For a Special Girl 2

 

Here's a bracelet for that very special little girl in your life. Actually, I should probably describe it as a bracelet for a young girl, since it suits girls from about 8 to age 12.

My model, The Amazing Martha, is 11. 

The bracelet is made with coins of very good quality natural turquoise. The beads are separated by short sections of sterling chain with heart-shaped links. The bracelet has a plain clasp, and a charm at the end of the extender chain, which gives some grow room.

Measure your child's wrist to avoid disappointment (young girls have surprisingly large wrists). The bracelet, as is, is 6 1/2 inches long, including the extender chain, and will fit a wrist between 5 and 6 inches. If your child's wrist is smaller, or larger, I am happy to adjust the bracelet to fit. 

Questions? Please e-mail me:  jeanne.sather@gmail.com

Price: $50. This includes taxes, postage, and insurance to U.S. mailing addresses. 

 

Photos: @ Monica Strasen 2010.

Text and design: @ Jeanne Sather 2010.

Tappin' in the Rain

This delicate bracelet has about a dozen 1940s glass head pins, some with round heads, some with drops. Each head pin is unique, and this is the only batch Cynthia was able to sell me. 

So I couldn't make another bracelet like this if I wanted to. 

The head pins are not beads, because they are attached to the ends of wires. I used those wires to make wrapped loops to attach the drops to a sterling silver chain. 

The bracelet has a handmade hook, and also a vintage sterling silver charm of a dainty tap shoe near the clasp. 

The round bead at the end of the bracelet is amber. 

It fits a small-to-medium-sized wrist, but is also adjustable. Just attach the hook where it feels most comfortable. Or measure your wrist to the nearest 1/4 inch and I will double check the length for you. 

Price: $120, which includes taxes, postage, and insurance to U.S. destinations. 

See also: Shoes

Photo: @ Monica Strasen 2010.

Design and text: @ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

 

How About Doin' a Little Laundry?

This sterling silver charm of a tiny pair of clothes pins--the old fashioned, all-one-piece kind--was made in the 1930s or 1940s. 

The charm is about three-quarters of an inch long, and very beautifully made. It is valued at $20 to $25. 

The bracelet is part of my Retro Domesticity series, which I've been working on for several months now. I've been collecting sterling silver charms, mostly from the 1940s, which seem to symbolize a kind of retro domesticity. The charms that I've found so far include a vacuum cleaner, toaster, sewing machine, bug sprayer, and now a pair of clothes pins. 

I wondered if women picked these charms as a not-so-subtle sign of domestic bondage ... but I've concluded that wasn't it. Rather, they were in love with the new labor-saving devices, like vacuum cleaners, and pop-up toasters, and that made them want to wear these charms. 

This bracelet is simpler than most of my designs, and I think it works. A strand of 8 mm, light-olive-green jade beads, a sterling "claw" clasp, and a sterling extender chain, finished off with a sterling rondelle and a small carnelian bead for contrast.

The total length is eight and one-half inches, and with the extender chain it can be adjusted to fit a wrist between six-and-a-half and seven-and-a-half inches. If your wrist is larger or smaller than that, I will adjust the bracelet for you at no additional charge.

Just measure your wrist and send me the measurement to the nearest quarter inch. 

A note about the photos: This shade of light jade is difficult to photograph. It almost always comes out too yellow. These beads are slightly greener than in the photo. 

Price: $100. 

Please e-mail me if you have any questions: jeanne.sather@gmail.com

See more: Jade

Photos: @ Monica Strasen 2010.

Design and text: @ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

Victorian Love Tokens

Most of the English love tokens that I've used in my jewelry are 3-pence coins, thin silver coins with portraits of Queen Victoria.

Now, Victoria reigned for decades, and it's fun to watch how she aged--and got plumper--as new coins were minted with updated portraits.

(I have a double chin now too, at age 56, so I identify with the older queen.)

My friend Sandy, my main source for vintage charms and love tokens, explained to me that there were three "Victoria heads."

The "young head," Sandy says, was used until 1887, but a bun was added to the design in 1860, which is useful in dating a love token if the date has been polished off the coin, as often happens.

Next came the "Jubilee head" which Sandy says was a middle-aged looking Victoria and used until 1893. Then came the "old head," which was used until the queen's death. 

Of course, the coins remained in circulation and continued to be used to make jewelry, as were coins with King Edward's portrait. I've had a few of these, but I don't find them as appealing as the Victorian love tokens.

Two of the four love tokens in the photo above is spoken for, both of the "young heads." The other two are available. E-mail me if you would like me to make you a bracelet or necklace with one of these. I think garnets or amethysts look wonderful with these coins, but crystals in a subtle shade are another possibility, as are pearls. 

I ORDERED ABOUT SIX MORE LOVE TOKENS, SOME OF THE YOUNG VICTORIA AND SOME OF THE MORE MATURE QUEEN. SO SPEAK UP IF YOU WANT A PIECE OF JEWELRY WITH A LOVE TOKEN, ESPECIALLY THE YOUNG VICTORIA ONES GO QUICKLY. 

This pearl choker would look beautiful with a love token added at the center: Megan Models the Pearl Choker.

Here are two other pieces that I made with love tokens that are for sale:

Romantic Love Token Necklace

Classic Love Token Necklace

I've made several similar garnet and love token bracelets, and they always sell very quickly. If you'd like a bracelet similar to this one, send me an e-mail:

Queen Victoria Wore Garnets

I've also been wanting to make a choker-length necklace with five or six strands of garnets and a love token. It would look pretty much like the bracelet, but longer, of course. Here's a necklace in that design with jade and agates: 

Romantic Necklace 

Feel free to start a conversation with me about how you want your jewelry to look, and also to fit. I enjoy working with my customers to give them exactly what they want. Women who have bought several pieces of jewelry from me seem to be very comfortable telling me exactly what length they want a bracelet or necklace to be, what kind of clasp they want, and so on.

I enjoy that give and take with my customers. Also, if the piece isn't quite right after you receive it, send it back for adjustments: Repairs and Adjustments 

The only thing I can't do for free is replace a vintage charm or love token, so if a charm should happen to come off, please keep track of it and mail it back to me for repairs. 

Here's the link to Sandy's Web site: Sandy's Vintage Charms

Photo: @ Monica Strasen 2010.

Designs and text: @ Jeanne Sather 2010.  

 

Retro Domesticity

 I have a new series of bracelets and necklaces called "Domesticity." What I have in mind here is a kind of retro, 1930s and '40s domesticity ... aprons ... cotton house dresses ... home canning ... kitchen fabrics printed with lush red apples, strawberries, or cherries. 

Charm bracelets were very big during this period, in both senses of the word. They were large: Women would collect 30 or more charms on one bracelet. According to the book "Charms and Charm Bracelets," in the 1930s actress Barbara Pepper had a charm bracelet with 50 gold charms, and another young actress had 82 gold animal charms, which she wore when she went horseback riding. 

And, in the other sense of the word, they were very popular, perhaps because they were relatively inexpensive to collect. "[during the 1930s and 1940s] Charms were available at virtually any price point. ...It is not clear if charms' affordability made them popular or vice versa. Regardless, virtually everyone could afford to collect charms," according to "Charms and Charm Bracelets."

I find the choice of charms during this period endlessly fascinating. What kind of woman would choose to hang a sterling silver ironing board on her wrist? Was it a not-so-subtle symbol of domestic bondage? How about a "mechanical" toaster--a beautifully crafted little thing with two slices of enameled toast that pop up? 

A sewing machine, also with moving parts. A push lawn mower. 

The 1940s charms that I have collected to use in my jewelry include the toaster, the ironing board, and also a "mechanical" bug sprayer with a moving handle. This charm is less than one inch long.  

Looking at this one from the perspective of the 21st century, with today's pesticides-are-to-be-avoided-like-the-plague attitudes, what kind of woman would choose to hang a sterling silver bug sprayer on her wrist? It's hard to imagine. 

I asked Sandy, my favorite charm dealer and an expert on the subject, why women chose these charms of domestic appliances and devices, and this is her explanation, which I agree with, by the way. 

"My theory stems from the Women's Liberation of the Edwardian period. Women first got the vote and then things got more relaxed in the 1920s. By the 1930s, women were still very much the homemakers and raised the children, but they were demanding more leisure time of their own, and starting to work part-time and have hobbies. 

"Companies realized there was money to be made in time-saving equipment, thus giving women time away from the home, so electrical gadgets and similar items became very popular indeed, and so, of course, did the charms. 

"Here in the UK it didn't happen until the 1950s because of the outbreak of WWII. We were quite a bit behind the U.S. ... You certainly have many more of the charms than we do here in the UK, so it fits."

The bracelets and necklaces in this series definitely have a sense of whimsy. Wear them to honor a mother or grandmother who was a young woman during this period. Wear them with a sense of irony about what it means to be a woman. 

The first piece available in this series is the 1940s bug sprayer bracelet.  The charms--an insect sprayer and a tiny mosquito--are unique vintage charms, and the bracelet is one of a kind. See: The 1940s Bug Sprayer Bracelet

Photo: @ Monica Strasen 2010.

Text and design: @ Jeanne Sather 2010.

 

Newborn on a Doctor's Scale

 This is the most unusual charm in my entire "Love & Marriage (& Baby Carriage)" collection--It's a sterling silver "mechanical" charm of a newborn baby on an old-fashioned doctor's scale. 

"Mechanical" means that the charm has moving parts, and this scale tips back and forth between the weight of the baby on one side and the weights on the other. 

 The charm is sterling silver and was made in England in the 1960s. It would be the perfect gift for a new mother, or for a pediatrician, or--even better--a new mother who happens to be a pediatrician. 

The bracelet has two strands: a string of rose quartz beads and a sterling silver chain with heart-shaped links. It closes with an adjustable toggle clasp and should fit most wrists. 

It is one of a kind. 

Price: $140. The price includes taxes, postage, and insurance to U.S. destinations. 

Questions: E-mail me: jeanne.sather@gmail.com

Photos: @ Monica Strasen 2010. 

Design and text: @ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

Baby Shoe Bracelet

 This one-of-a-kind bracelet with its delightful sterling baby shoe is the perfect gift for a new mother. 

I've always loved baby shoes. There is something so tender and appealing about their chubby shape and small size, and this little shoe is very well made, right down to the laces! 

The baby shoe is a vintage charm that dates to the 1940s or '50s, when such charms were very popular. 

The bracelet has two strands, one is a length of sterling silver chain, the other is a chain that I made with peach moonstones, jump rings, and sterling silver wire. 

It closes with a toggle clasp, and has a peach crystal for a little extra sparkle. 

The bracelet is a standard 7 1/2 inches long, but let me know if you need it either longer or shorter as I can adjust it for you. 

Price: $130. The price includes taxes, postage, and insurance to U.S. mailing addresses. 

Questions? E-mail me: jeanne.sather@gmail.com

Photos: @ Monica Strasen 2010. 

Design and text: @ Jeanne Sather 2010.