Charmed Bracelets

Deliciously Chunky Bakelite Mahjong Tile Bracelet

 I'd been eyeing this bakelite mahjong-tile bracelet for months. And then it went on sale!

So I bought it for my collection. I don't know if I will ever wear it, I just like to handle it and look at it. This deep butterscotch shade is by far my favorite bakelite color. 

Maybe I need to put up some shallow shelves in my living room to display my growing collection of vintage jewelry, in particular the bakelite.

Bracelets like this were popular in the 1930s, an era during which bakelite was also used to make dice, poker chips, complete mahjong sets, and other game pieces. Maybe I need to get one of my Japanese friends or family members to teach me to play mahjong! Middle-class ladies used to spend their afternoons that way in the 1930s, if they weren't playing bridge.

Value: about $100 or a little more.

See also: 

Bakelite

Vintage Jewelry: My Collection

Photo: @ Monica Strasen 2010. 

Text: @ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

Luscious as a Bowl of Cherries

Peaches and cherries? Or bakelite?

Stop and take a second look before you bite into these. Luscious as they look, they aren't edible. 

These vintage pieces are classic bakelite button earrings, one pair in cherry red, the other in butterscotch. 

They have screw backs, which was typical in the 1940s, when not too many women pierced their ears. 

I bought these to wear with my own bakelite jewelry, bracelets and necklaces I've made from recycled bakelite buttons. 

But if you'd like to buy a pair, I could probably be persuaded to part with them. E-mail me if you're interested: jeanne.sather@gmail.com THE BUTTERSCOTCH EARRINGS ARE GONE, I STILL HAVE THE CHERRY RED ONES. 

See also: 

Happy Bakelite Bracelet

Red Button Necklace

Playing With Bakelite

Photo: @ Monica Strasen 2010.

Text: @ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

The Lady With the Cane

 Let me say, first of all, that I just don't see myself as The Lady With the Cane. 

Not my self-image. 

However, I have been using a cane for a couple of weeks now, because of the pain in my left hip. I need the cane to get out of bed in the morning, and for the first little while after I'm up because I can't put all my weight on that leg. And I need it each and every time I get up from a chair or the couch. 

This situation seems likely to continue. 

(Don't know what I'm talking about? See my cancer blog: The Assertive Cancer Patient) 

Given this situation, I may have to bow--not gracefully, but with my own sense of Assertive Cancer Patient style--and accept a cane. But not just any cane.

I want to be The Lady With the Totally Cool Cane. And I've found the cane, online, of course. To top it off, this cane has a bakelite handle. Those of you who know my jewelry will know that I am fascinated with bakelite right now and making a lot of pieces with vintage bakelite buttons. (See: Charmed Bracelets: Bakelite) 

The cane--vintage, of course--is topped by a bakelite parrot. How cool is that? 

I snatched the photo above off the seller's Web site. Since I'm buying it, I figure he won't mind.

Can I afford this cane? Of course not. It costs $650, including the shipping. But I'm hoping that my friends and readers will chip in and help buy the Assertive Cancer Patient her signature cane. 

By my math, if thirty-two and a half friends and readers send me $20 each, that will cover it. If you make a donation through PayPal, please add a note that it is for the cane. 

Thanks, everyone. 

A footnote: Parrots were a popular subject for bakelite carvers in the 1930s. Here's a parrot pin for sale from California Girls, a dealer who sells me sterling charms and bakelite: 

Bakelite Parrot Brooch

@ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

My Bakelite Bangles

 I bought myself an armful of bakelite bangle bracelets for a birthday present four or five years ago. (Yes, I give myself birthday gifts. It's one of the things I've done since my cancer diagnosis.)

I bought six, the five in the photo plus one more that is dark brown. I bought them at an antique store in Seattle's Pioneer Square neighborhood, and I paid about $350 for all six. 

Those were pretty good prices, and the bracelets are probably all worth more now.

I didn't buy them as an investment, though, I bought them to wear. This selection gives me a great range to match most of my clothes. (The second one down is actually a pale marbled green, but it looks more yellow here.) I sometimes wear just one, sometimes two or three, and sometimes all of them at the same time. 

One of the interesting things about bakelite is that it changes color as it ages. I probably would not have liked the garish colors of new bakelite back in the 1930s or 40s, but I love the patina and color changes that come with age. 

The pale "creamed corn" color started out white, and there is no white bakelite today unless you find a piece that was stored away from the light. Yellows become butterscotch or amber, like the carved bangle third from the top, which I often wear alone. Blue becomes black or sometimes green, and red deepens. 

That butterscotch bracelet is a perfect match for this necklace: Happy Bakelite Necklace

Buying Bakelite

Bakelite jewelry was cheap when it was first made during the Great Depression. A bangle bracelet might have sold for as little as 10 cents.

Today, bakelite bangles vary widely in price. I paid only $20 or $30 each for the thinner ones with no carving--sometimes called "spacers." I paid about $80 each for the two most expensive of my bracelets--the red and the amber carved ones. But I've seen similar ones for sale recently for $200 or more each. 

The width of the bracelet and any carving, which was done by hand, add to the value.

I have never bought bakelite bangles online, even from Web sites that say that they guarantee that it is genuine bakelite, because there is a lot of "fakelite" out there. Also, sometimes inexperienced dealers label a piece "bakelite" when it is another early plastic like lucite. I prefer to buy from a dealer I can meet face to face.

I'll put up another post soon about how to tell if a particular piece is bakelite or not, and if you are interested in buying bakelite bangles I would be happy to search for them for you at my local antique stores--where I know the dealers and can get a money-back guarantee in writing that the piece is vintage bakelite. 

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

See also: Cleaning & Polishing Bakelite

Photo: Monica Strasen. 

@ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

Czech Child's Charm Bracelet

 I bought this child's charm bracelet for its "much-loved" charm. I can imagine generations of little girls wearing it and loving it. 

The bracelet was made in the 1920s, in Czechoslovakia, and probably exported to England for sale. I bought it from Sandy, my favorite charm dealer, who is based in England. 

The little charms are all glass, and some were painted. This paint has worn off, leaving the bracelet with that wabi sabi look. Charms include a heart, a lady bug, a parrot, a Buddha, and a scarab.

Glass charms from Czechoslovakia were cheap at the time they were made, like crackerjack toys, but they are collector's items now.  

I'm planning to make a couple of replicas of this bracelet to sell on my site, and I've amused myself for the past few months collecting the charms from various sources. 

The only one I'm missing now is the scarab, and that is in the mail to me from a dealer who sells Egyptian art and artifacts. 

I'm planning to make the bracelets in both child size and larger. My idea is that a woman would buy them for a mother-daughter or grandmother-granddaughter combo. 

Doesn't that sound like fun? 

I've made a few other bracelets for little girls and really enjoyed putting them together. I like the playfulness and whimsy of making jewelry for children. Here are a couple I made recently: Little Girls

Sandy has a section on glass charms on her site: Czech Glass Charms

I'll have the replicas up on my site soon, and if you are interested in them please e-mail me: jeanne.sather@gmail.com

See also: How to Use This Web Site

Photo: Monica Strasen. 

@ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

Trench-Art Bracelet

 During World War I, and again during the Second World War, soldiers used to pass the time in the trenches by making small objects out of shell casings, scraps of metal, and coins. 

Often these objects were given to loved ones or sweethearts waiting at home.

This bracelet is an example of trench art from World War II. 

The bracelet was made out of Australian coins, probably by an American GI who was stationed in Australia, for his wife or girlfriend. The coins were rounded out from the back, as you can see in the second photo, and joined with small rings. 

 The bracelet was too small for my wrist, so I added a length of chain with a crystal and a handmade hook. 

The central coin is a 1944 Australian shilling, with King George VI on the face, and a curly-horned sheep on the reverse.  The smaller coins are six pences and three pences, some shaped to show the face and others the reverse of the coins. 

It's a very nice example of trench art jewelry. 

@ Jeanne Sather 2009.