My 'new' gemstone bracelet. Nana would have been very happy to see this remake of a vintage piece!
Over the years Nana would help to pack up for her relations and always rescued bits and pieces that would otherwise be thrown out. Often she would hand over a small box or bag with things she thought I would like or could use. As I was growing up I loved gemstones and rocks and kept a collection in several shoe boxes under my bed! I never remember showing Nana, or even talking about my collection to her, but she always knew more about me than I would expect! Once she gave me an old jewellery box with a lot of broken bits in it including a bracelet of Australian gemstones. The chain was brass and broken but I liked the stones and and stored it away for years. Last year I noticed that gemstones had come back in fashion on pendants and bracelets and remembered the broken bracelet Nana had given me. I know her intention was for me to remake this into something newl. We had talked about it; she thought if I did not want to use the stones for a new piece of jewellery I could use it in a textile art piece. Nana was so interested in my studies in art and textiles even though I wondered where this interest came from as she was so practical and never did any 'fancy' work!
I took the broken bracelet to a local jeweller to see if I could learn more about the stones and if it was worth while making a good piece from the bits. How exciting it was to see the piece come together into a new bracelet with a gold chain. I love it and have been wearing it but I am going to look out for some other interesting bits to fill the gaps.
No comments:
Post a Comment