Friday, July 26, 2013

Pretty In Pink Bracelet...

I picked up a lovely strand of faceted, onion-shaped, topaz briolettes with a mystic-coating a few years ago in Tucson.  They had such a sweet pink coloring with sparks of the palest blue and violet.  They remained in my dragon's hoard until finally one day I put them out.  Many people picked them up, seduced by their bold sparkle... but they were a pricey strand and the onion-cut isn't always the easiest to work with.  (I think I was secretly happy, because I wasn't ready to part with them just yet.)

A few days passed and I thought they'd take up permanent residence at the shop... that is, until... a customer snatched them up, saying how nice they'd be in a bracelet.  I couldn't disagree.  They would be nice in a bracelet.

My first attempt, I used a very fine gauge of flexible beading wire to fit through the thin holes of the briolletes.  It didn't make it down the street without breaking.  I knew in my heart that it would.  The test poundage was just too low and the bracelet gets a lot of action with all the movement.

I had to redesign how I wanted it to look and create something that was more durable.  I decided to sew each individual bead onto a piece of silk cording.  The "underbelly" of the bracelet was left unadorned to make it more comfortable to wear and keep it flexible.  It took longer than just stringing them, but this should last a good long time.  I'm really happy with the end result and hope the customer likes it too!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really love this design and the way you used the silk cording as the base, ingenious! I also have these mystic coated briolettes but they are the flat pear shaped ones.

Andrew Thornton said...

I forgot to mention that I sewed on small faceted Czech glass rounds in a corresponding color gradient to transition between the stones and the silk. It's a small detail, but I like the way it smooths out the overall look in person.

Naomi Rose Designs said...

I love it when beads I fell in love with, but can't figure out how to use, just tell me one day what to do with them.

And yes, the details are so important!

Anonymous said...

Clever idea.

Shai Williams said...

What an incredibly lush bracelet! And I just love how you put it all together.

Jean Katherine Baldridge said...

Do you mean to say that you have already sold this???
Jean is late to the party again?
Just fell over at this bracelet's beauty,