Wristband

“ One breadth of the cloth makes the sleeves, and the length is from nine to ten nails. The collar, and the wristbands, are made to fit the neck and wrists, and the breadths are so various, that no general rule can be given. You make the binders, or linings, about twelve nails in length, and three in breadth; and the sleeve gussets are three; the neck gusset, two; the flap gussets, one; and the bosom gusset, half a nail square. The work, or stitches, introduced into the collar, wristbands, &c., are to be regulated according to the taste of the maker, or the wearer. ”

“ Nothing betokens the coxcomb more decidedly than to see a man always fussing about his dress, pulling down his wristbands, playing with his moustache, pulling up his shirt collar, or arranging the bow of his cravat. ”

“ You may cause a ring to shift from one hand to another, and make it go on any finger required on the other hand, while somebody holds both your arms, in order to prevent communication between them by attending to these instructions:—Desire some lady in company to lend you a gold ring, recommending her, at the same time, to make a mark on it, that she may know it again. Have a gold ring of your own, which fasten by a small piece of catgut-string, to a watch-barrel, and sew it to the left sleeve of your coat. Take the ring that is given you in your right hand ”

“ Joe Buckner sounded outraged.
"That is one purpose our bracelets serve," the instructor answered. "A very good question, Joe. As you know, each of us receives a bracelet at birth, which is slipped over the hand and onto the wrist. Made of plasticum, which cannot be cut by any method, the bracelet has the unique property of expanding in size as the wearer grows. It cannot be removed except by cutting off the arm of the wearer." ”

“ The secret of it is that you have a second basin, with a pudding in it, concealed in the palm of your right hand. At the critical moment, when the handkerchief flares up, you take advantage of the excitement produced to substitute the one basin for the other. The watch from which you extract the works is not the borrowed one, but one which you have had concealed between the third and fourth fingers of the left hand. You show the empty case of this watch to the company, before wrapping the watch in the handkerchief and handing it back to its owner. ”

“ Not only are there the watch-bracelets which have been so extensively worn of late years, but minute ornamental watches have been set in finger-rings, where they can be consulted with even greater ease than when worn on the wrist. The watch-face is surrounded by a bordering of small jewels. Apart from their practical value, the “watch-rings” are pretty and dainty objects in themselves, and lend a new element of variety to the long list of ring forms. ”

“ With regard to the finger on which the episcopal ring is worn, a correspondent of ‘Notes and Queries’ (vol. v., first series, p. 114) , remarks that ‘all who wear rings, ex officio, wear them on the third finger of the right hand. Cardinals, bishops, abbots, doctors, &c., do this for the reason that it is the first vacant finger. The thumb and the first two fingers have always been reserved as symbols of the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity. When a bishop gives his blessing he blesses with the thumb and two first fingers. ”

“ It should be tight enough to prevent sliding or turning, yet not tight enough to make the arm bulge on either side. The bracelet should be carefully tested for its place, as it is difficult and costly to alter.
If a bracelet is to be worn over the sleeve of a dress, again care must be taken to see that it is loose enough to slide and to lie comfortably. Neither a bracelet around the arm nor a belt around the waist should seem too confining. Any tightness, as with the olden hour-glass corsets, belongs below the surface. Trimness, not strain, is beauty’s accordant sign. ”

“ 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. ”

“ But it does not follow that “Once an earclip always an earclip” is an equally desirable or inevitable pattern, or that a bracelet should be condemned to endure forever as a band around the arm.
The stones from a pair of earrings may well be remodelled into the center stones of a bracelet. An old bracelet, on the other hand, may become a parure: earclips, dress or hair clip, and a ring. An old pendant may have stones that can be beautifully reset as earclips and a brooch, and countless other variations and transformations need little more than the imagination and the desire. ”

“ There is no piece of jewellery that is more generally worn nor whose possession causes more joy, than a [358] finger ring. And the proper fitting of a ring for comfort in wearing it, or to prevent its loss, which frequently would be looked upon almost as a calamity, is something that can be attained by careful adjustment to the proper size. Many fingers taper forward. In other fingers, the knuckle is very large and the third joint much smaller than the knuckle. Where the finger tapers from the joint at the hand to the tip it is frequently difficult to make a ring hold properly. ”

“ The belt must be mischievously tight to hold the watch. To wear a watch pushed half way under the belt, is to constantly expose it to accident, and, at best, to make a vain announcement of the fact that you have one.
In England it is a common remark, that you may know a nobleman by his plain dress, and by the absence of all jewelry. And I will add, that everywhere you may know a shoddy pretender by an excessive display of jewelry.
No person of really fine culture delights in an exhibition of trinkets or gew-gaws of any kind. The refined soul cannot make an ornamental parade. ”

“ If a watch is needed, it is most conveniently carried in a leather wristlet made for the purpose, as it can then be consulted at any moment, by merely raising the hand, without having to fumble for a watch-pocket. ”

“ The watch on the wrist of Queen Elizabeth I of England dangled from a bracelet; the watch in the bracelet is a distinctive development of our own time. Railroad men and some others still prefer the larger pocket watch, but the accuracy of the good wrist watch suffices for all save the finest scientific measurements of time. That the timepiece, nevertheless, remains partly a fad and a fashion is made clear by the many less practical ways in which it is mounted. Watches have been designed in rings, on cuff links, buttons, heads of canes ”

“ At the present day American and European influence is very slow in making itself felt in the direction of ring-wearing.
[83]
In the large oval bezel of a fine Syrian ring is set a paste representing a topaz. The shoulders expand to form the bezel. This ring, the lower half of which has been broken off, shows an exceptionally fine patina; it was of large size and must have been a striking ornament on the wearer’s hand. As the broad oval extends across the hoop, not at right angles with it, it must have interfered slightly with a free use of the fingers near the one on which the ring was worn. ”

“ The last thing to be done is the wrapping of the hand with quarter-inch white tape. Begin at the wrist, then wrap the thumb, carry the tape back to the wrist, then wrap the palm of the hand. When the hand has been carefully wrapped, then take a needle and thread and close any openings, such as those at the ends of the fingers or in the palms of the hands. The hand can now be pressed into any number of lifelike positions. ”

“ A long-tailed coat; a chimney-pot hat; a watch; a mild promise of whiskers; a good constitution; and a fair chance of being five feet eight, or so. No wonder that I began to push out my shins as I went about the streets. For some weeks after I became possessed of my watch, I took great pleasure in polishing the case, looking into the works, winding it up, and setting it right by public clocks, and by other people's watches. ”

“ The pliers for cutting watch-guards are very strong, and do their work in an instant; but these instruments are not generally used. Most thieves break the watch from the guard by the following quick and easy method:—The watch is tightly grasped in the left hand, the powerful and fleshy part of the thumb resting on the part of the watch where the stud and ring are attached. ”

“ Some there are who heap several rings on the little finger alone; while others, again, wear but one ring on this finger—the ring that sets a seal on the signet-ring itself; this last being carefully shut up as an object of rarity, too precious to be worn in common use, and only to be taken from the cabinet (dactyliotheca) as from a sanctuary. And thus is the wearing of a single ring upon the little finger no more than an ostentatious advertisement that the owner has property of a more precious nature under seal at home. ”

“ By way of ornament, the woman puts on her fingers as many brass, or, where circumstances permit, silver rings as the lower joint will wear, so that that portion of the hand is literally mailed; a more or less handsome string of glass beads is hung round the neck, and very heavy tassel-like ear-rings of glass beads, twisted wire, and metal buttons, are hung rather over than in the ear ”

“ This jewel possesses all the versatility of the clip itself, with the added usefulness of the timepiece. The watch face can of course be cunningly hidden, in the heart of a flower, or as an element of an abstract design. It may be worn on a low neckline, at a lapel, at the cuff, or even on a bracelet.
For a woman during business hours, or at golf, there is good reason for wearing a watch. The wrist watch is the best. For sports, a plain leather band should hold a simple watch. At business, a simple band or gold chain is appropriate; the watch itself may be encased with small diamonds. ”

“ The women seem to have been exceedingly fond of rings, sometimes wearing two or three on the same finger, often wearing them on every finger of the left hand and at the same time on a finger or two of the right hand, and they even wore a ring on the thumb. ”

“ In addition to finger and earrings our jewellery artists are responsible [4] for other objects, such as the bracelet, the watch, and the fan. I think it is very difficult to rescue the bracelet from conventionality. We must hope the best for the future. But what about watch-cases, especially those of ladies' watches? This art is quite neglected, not so much by the manufacturers as by the artists. ”

“ Ear-rings were a very favourite form of adornment, and three or four would dangle picturesquely from each ear, but only women and boys wore them. The wearing of rings, however, was general. Iron, copper, and ivory played their part in the making of the bracelets, and in the long pins for the hair, which were decorated with massive heads mostly significant, including such odd designs as a fish bearing in its mouth two precious stones, and a hanging basket with a greedy bird pecking at its floral contents. ”

“ They are very fond of ornaments, particularly beads of brilliant colours, which they make into bracelets. Glass ornaments and brass wire pass among them as money; a buffalo or an ox is valued at six armfulls of thick brass wire; a pig is nearly as dear; but for a small piece of fine wire or a bead necklace you can purchase a pheasant or a hundred ears of maize. Men generally wear a bracelet above the elbow and one at the wrist ”

“ There are buttons on the back of the waist of the morning coat to which the tails of the coat used to be fastened up, and there are buttons, occasionally with buttonholes, at the wrist which were once useful in turning up the sleeve. The same is true of man's body, which is a veritable museum of relics. ”

“ On a mummy-case in the British Museum is a representation of a woman with crossed hands, covered with rings; the left hand is most loaded. Upon the thumb is a signet with hieroglyphics on the surface, three rings on the forefinger, two on the second, one formed like a snail shell, the same number on the next, and one on the little finger. The right hand carries only a thumb ring, and two upon the third finger. ”

“ Men wear a gold bangle on the left wrist, and another on the right arm. Women wear a silver bangle on the right wrist, and a bracelet of real or imitation coral, which is first worn at the time of marriage, on the left wrist. ”

“ And while the watch bracelet may look attractive alone, the presence of other jewels makes its utilitarian function over-prominent. The wrist watch should be serviceable, but beautiful.
In any case, a watch is at best an interloper, if not a downright intruder, in moments of feminine finery. Permitting a woman to espy the hour when she should not be so concerned, the watch—like all spies—should be as much as possible unnoticed and unknown. If it be worn, it should not be as a watch but as an integral part of a jewel. ”

“ You then put the wedding-ring you borrowed over the outside of the handkerchief, and desiring the person who holds the hat to take it away, exhibit the ring (placed as described) to the company, and while their attention is engaged, taking the opportunity [15] of concealing, or getting rid of the brass ring.
The Smashed Watch.
You request some one of the company to lend you a watch, and put it immediately into a mortar; a few moments afterward you cause it to be pounded, by another person, with a pestle; you exhibit the wheels, face, mainspring, and drum barrel broken and smashed ”

“ Human hand, ah-sin-ne. Represents the hand and wrist. Rather good figure. The wrist is surrounded by a colored scalloped band, as a bracelet.
Moccasins. Mō-quā-we. These are usually very correct in form, the differences between the right and left being always properly represented. Sometimes they are made singly, but usually in pairs, united directly or by a little straight bar or curved handle at the posterior end. White with color decorations, or brown or lead-colored without decorations, diminutive in size. The following specimens are without decorations:
1182-1190. 1182, (39924) ”