Commissioned Jewelry Piece: Vintage Buttons
One of the best parts of my job is the jewelry commissions! It is so rewarding creating a special piece for someone. A client asked me to create a necklace for her mother out of two vintage buttons. She didn’t have a vision for the necklace, but these buttons held sentimental value for her. They belonged to her great great grandmother, so they needed to be treated special and in a way that her mother would wear.
During our conversation, she said her mother wears blues, aquas, browns, greens and purple. We decided to incorporate a few colors so that it would be flexible within her wardrobe.
Design Challenge
The obstacles I faced during the creation were that there were only two and they were pretty large. In the jewelry world, odd numbers are almost always better! So my challenge was to make a necklace where the two buttons were the star and looked natural.
My creative process started with choosing and laying beads down into various designs. A lovely design presented itself, and I started putting it together. However, when I held it up to my neck, it just wouldn’t lay right.
Since the buttons are so big I needed to connect them more than once so they wouldn’t flip while wearing the necklace. From there I went through two more versions before finding the right mix of beads, support and a design that would offer a little flexibility.
Final Necklace Design
Here is the final design made from Amazonite, pale green glass beads, the two buttons and antique silver plated chain. I sure hope her mom loves it!
So tell me, do you have any family mementos you might consider turning into jewelry? Leave me a comment below!
Thanks for visiting!
