Gold bracelet

“ It should not, however, be thought of as the centerpiece in a gold bangle bracelet. Set against the stiff gold, it will not be improved, but will the more clearly proclaim that it is old-fashioned. Instead, the jeweler should consider the possibility of centering the diamond wrist watch in an important diamond and pearl bracelet. If the watch movement is still in good condition, the watch can be incorporated in the bracelet so cleverly that the functional aspect of the timepiece will be wholly subordinate to, if not lost in, the beauty of the jewel. ”

“ In the lowest bracelet the hour-glass-shaped beads are of gold, with one of amethyst between each pair. The gold is doubtless cast, being solid. None of these are pierced, but they were secured by tying round a groove at the middle of each bead. There was also a fourth bracelet with a ball and loop fastening which shows the skill in soldering. The ball is beaten hollow, leaving about a quarter of it open; inside it a hook of gold wire is soldered in without leaving the smallest trace of solder visible. ”

“ He puts in his ears gold ear-rings, round the neck a necklace called chakra (wheel) mala,* [6] on the right wrist a gold bracelet, gold rings on the fingers, a gold or silver chain round the loins, and a gold or silver-handled knife with a sheath of the same metal. The two companions are dressed in much the same way, but they wear neither necklace nor bracelet. The women wear as many ornaments as they please. Sisters of the bridegroom must wear bracelets on both wrists, a necklace, and a silk cloth (virāli) on the shoulders. ”

“ The better ones are made of gold, silver, or mother-of-pearl; others are fashioned of iron, copper, horn, beads and other materials. In China, prized bracelets are cut of a single piece of jade.
In the Orient, the use of the bracelet never lapsed. In Europe, the arm decoration—along with other adornment—grew less popular in the Middle Ages, but with the flowering of the Renaissance the bracelet again came into fashion.
Types of Bracelets
There are two main types of bracelets in general use. First came the stiff bangle bracelet, a rigid band. ”

“ The other bracelet consists of a flat band, formed of plaited hair of various shades, and the shades so disposed as to intersect each other transversely, forming a kind of chequered pattern. Five medallions are affixed to this band, each opening by a spring in the manner of a watch-case, and within are a name and date, or any inscription appropriate to those whose tresses have formed the memento. For plain bracelets, there is the round elastic band, fastened by a broad gold band or link, to which is attached a single medallion, inclosing hair too short to be braided. ”

“ A treasured brooch or ring, without requiring the resetting of stones or the breaking up of the jewel, may be incorporated into a bracelet as an ornamental clasp. The beautiful round or oval Victorian brooches, the still charming baroque flower pins and rings, lend themselves with exceptional readiness to this use. Such a clasp, as a centerpiece, may grace a many-stranded pearl bracelet, or one of gold chain or gold motifs.
[172]
Bracelet Width
The width of the bracelet should never exceed the width of the special clasp. Too wide a band will dwarf the clasp and destroy its decorative value. ”

“ Some of the earliest are composed of glass and gold beads threaded so as to form various patterns. The more solid forms of bracelet are ornamented with inlaid work. Rings for the arms, as well as the ankles, are generally of plain gold—both solid and hollow—sometimes bordered with plaited chain-work. Bracelets of thick and occasionally twisted wire, found as early as the twelfth dynasty, usually have the ends beaten out into a thin wire, which is lapped round the opposite shank so as to slip easily over the wrist. ”

“ The bracelet with spiral beads has the gold spiral formed of a hammered gold wire, thicker at the middle, where it forms the barrel of the beads. This form is imitated in the three dark lazuli beads down the middle. The triple gold balls, on either side of those, are each beaten hollow and drawn into a thread-hole left at each end; so perfectly wrought are they that only in one instance does the slightest ruck of metal remain. To join the three balls together they were soldered, but without leaving the least excess or difference of colour. ”

“ On reaching the historic times we obtain a good view of the production and variety of jewellery, in the four bracelets of the Queen of Zer, early in [85] the first dynasty, 5400 B.C. These bracelets (fig. 93) show how each separate piece was made to fit its own place in a complete design, and that the later custom of merely stringing ready-made beads was not then followed.
The bracelet of hawks has the gold blocks alternating with turquoise. The hawks on the gold pieces are all equal, but the sizes of the blocks vary in the height. ”

“ Within two hours from the reception of this challenge, the beautiful bracelet, inclosed in an elegant case, on whose lid the initials of Lady R., surrounded by her crest, were engraved in letters of gold, had passed from the jeweller's show-rooms to the boudoir of Madame de N., who thenceforth, by means of an espionage that followed every movement of her rival, kept her constantly in view. ”

“ Married women have a gold and silver coin at the ends of these tufts, while widows remove them. But the dearest possession of the women are large broad bracelets, made, some of wood, and the large number of bone or ivory. Almost the whole arm is covered with these ornaments. In case of the husband's death, the bracelets on the upper arm are removed. They are kept in place by a cotton bracelet, gorgeously made, the strings of which are ornamented with the inevitable cowries. On the wrist broad heavy brass bracelets with bells are worn, these being presents from the mother to her daughter. ”

“ The well-known serpent bracelet was such an open spiral, such a double link, and several of them, sprung together alternately with closed links, would have formed a chain identical in principle with that of the patentee. There certainly is nothing patentable in merely reducing the size of the bracelet so as to adapt it to use in a necklace. The record also contains evidence that other spiral rings or links made of gold tubing, some of them open and some closed, by soldering, were made before 1873. ”

“ In general, any circlet of gold or silver which forms a bracelet for men or women, whether worn on the wrist, arm, or ankle. Bracelets worn by men often consisted of three or four massive bands of bronze, silver, or gold, and thus covered a considerable portion of the arm. Bracelets were worn by the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Medes, the Persians, the Celts (Fig. 42) , and the Gauls (Fig. 43) . The Egyptians in some instances employed ivory and porcelain in their manufacture. ”

“ Gold should be seen on the jewels, accented with a few diamonds. Pearls with diamonds are also effectively in place. Always there is distinction, as I have said, in one earclip with a black pearl, one earclip [218] with a white, while a black and a white pearl are set together in a finger ring.
For a White House cocktail party, jewelry with diamonds and multicolored stones may be worn. Still more appropriate, with the simple cocktail dress, is a parure. An especially effective set is a pearl necklace with a diamond clasp on each side, and matching earclips, bracelet, and ring. ”

“ We are to have manufactured a bracelet of gold of a pattern as old as the Pharaohs, and made with the same instruments that the cunning goldsmiths used three thousand years ago. While we are seated and bargaining for the work, the goldsmith unlocks his safe and shows us necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and earrings in the very forms, bizarre but graceful, of the jewelry of which the Israelites spoiled the Egyptian women. ”

“ Ornaments were worn in less profusion than in Switzerland; but the torque for the neck, the bracelet, the ear-ring, the pin for the dress and for the hair, were all in use, though brooches were unknown. Necklaces, or gorgets, formed of amber, jet, and bone beads were not uncommon; and the ornaments of glass and ivory, such as those lately mentioned, were probably obtained by foreign commerce. Gold, also, was often used for decorating the person, though coins, and apparently even the metal silver, were unknown. ”

“ A Gothic bracelet of enamelled gold, in the centre a burnt topaz surrounded by three large brilliants; in each link composing the bracelet is a square emerald; at each extremity of the topaz forming the centre ornament are two balls of burnished gold, and two of wrought gold. ”

“ An important group of ornaments, dating from the time of Charles II to that of Queen Anne, are those in the form of small memorial brooches, lockets, bracelet clasps, buttons, and slides with loops at the back for attachment to a velvet band. They are of considerable interest in that they represent almost the only surviving examples of English jewellery of the time. The Franks Bequest in the British Museum contains several specimens. They usually have letters in a fine filigree of gold entwined in a monogram, laid on a ground of crimson silk, and covered with a thick crystal set in gold. ”

“ The Babylonian and Assyrian monarchs wore bracelets as one of the insignia of royalty, whilst at the present day the Shah is the only male person in Persia who has a right to wear a bracelet. What may be the exact significance of the bracelet is not clear; it may have none, and may in the course of ages have become by usage one of the insignia of a reigning monarch. The bracelets at present in the Jewel House were made by Sir Robert Vyner for Charles II from some ancient design, and are of solid gold. ”

“ If the wrist is small, the bracelet should be worn low on the arm. A narrow gold or pearl bracelet will be most becoming. Too wide a band will tend to make the hand seem bony. A slim arm will seem rounder with a bracelet of slender chains set with small stones. ”

“ Bracelets of the same type as the torque and bracelet shown in Fig. 471 have not unfrequently been found in Britain, though, perhaps, they are less common in bronze than in the more precious metal, gold.
They are sometimes slightly hollowed at the expanding ends. One found with the hoard at Marden, Kent, [1474] is of this kind. Another plain penannular bracelet tapers off at the ends instead of expanding. This latter is too small for an adult person.
One found, with various other bronze relics, at Ty Mawr, on Holyhead Mountain, [1475] expands at one end and tapers at the other. ”

“ Bracelets (Nos. 16, 17, and 29) , which are numerous, and mostly open, are either solid or hollow (one is of tin) ; fibulæ and torques rare; finger-rings are of two kinds, plain and spiral (No. 7) ; portions of girdles, buckles, pendants (No. 5) , buttons (No. 33) , bronze beads, and small spirals, are abundant; a clasp is like one from Mörigen (Fig. 20, No. 25) . Tin appears in ingots, in a bracelet, discs, and thin strips for ornamentation to dishes; also gold in the form of a few portions of twisted wire or leaf. Several bronze vessels. ”

“ In the same monuments the wrists of kings and genii are surrounded with massive bracelets (Vol. I. Figs. 4, 8, 9, 15, 23, 24, 29, &c.) . In the Louvre there is a bronze bracelet of exactly the same type (Fig. 24C) . [441] We [355] may see them figured among the objects offered in tribute in a bas-relief at Nimroud (Fig. 241) . From the same reliefs we gather several examples of ear-pendents (Figs. 242–244) . It is probable that the same models were carried out in gold, silver, or bronze, according to the rank and fortune of the [356] people for whom they were made. ”

“ From these coincidences it may probably be inferred that this bracelet was contemporaneous with the several objects now under consideration, and in some way connected with the worship of the Deæ Matres. There are two other objects in the collection of the British Museum which may also perhaps be connected with the same subject: these are two gold serpents, which have formed bracelets. The heads have the same peculiar treatment as those upon the ring. One is much larger than the other, and was in the collection of Mr. Knight ”

“ He examined with ee^er eyes the list of the missing jewels.
"It is!—Here's the thing itself!—'A bracelet of twenty-four diamonds, in a plain gold setting, with pearl fastenings. When closed the fastening is heart-shaped. Five pearls in fastening.' It is Golden's. Hollo, another of the Marquis's infernal machines seems to be evincing an inclination to go off." ”

“ Bracelets have at all times been much in use among barbaric nations, and the women frequently wear several on the same arm. The finer kinds are of mother-of-pearl, fine gold or silver; others of less value are made of plated steel, horn, brass, copper, beads, &c. Chinese bracelets are sometimes cut out of single pieces of jade.
This species of personal ornament has been exceedingly common in Europe from prehistoric times onward. The bracelets of the Bronze Age were of either gold or bronze, silver being then unknown. ”

“ One pair of plain Gold Buttons link'd with a Chain nock fashion'd, 8. d. weight and half. Several false Stone Ear Rings, and Rings of several Colours, set in Gold. One pair of Ear Rings, Diamonds and Drops, value about 4l. 10s. Several right Garnet Ear Rings set in Gold with Drops. Two red Watch Bottles rib'd with Gold. Several gilt Watch Bottles and other Toys. One gilt Coral with a double branch. One Necklace with Pearls and Vermillions; one Moco Stone Bracelet, 1 large piece of Coral, weight 1 Ounce 8 p. ”

“ At first it looks as if enamelled, as the ground runs in the small intervals between the gold; but it is really a surface formed of pieces of dark lazuli, cut approximately to the forms and patched around with a dark blue paste to match it. Two other bracelets (or perhaps anklets) are formed of minute beads of stones and gold threaded on parallel wires, forming a band about 11⁄2 inches wide. The pattern seems an imitation of plaiting, as each colour forms a half square divided diagonally. The necklace of large gold flies is heavy, and lacks the grace of earlier times. ”