Gioconda Bracelet - Celluloid Limited Edition

This bracelet represents the end of an era in our studio. Corda Walker, who designed the best of our limited edition button bracelets for almost thirty years, is retiring. The bracelets in this release will be your last chance to own a piece of her magic.

This gorgeous bracelet showcases five one-of-a-kind Victorian-era antique buttons with various celluloid backgrounds, including ombre, ivory, two-tone, and delicately incised.

John Wesley Hyatt of New Jersey patented the first semi-synthetic plastic in 1869 while attempting to invent a replacement material for ivory billiard balls. His invention, called celluloid, proved unsuitable for pool tables. However, its innately moldable properties made it a popular choice for other everyday items, including toys, knitting needles, cutlery handles, collar cuffs, jewelry, and buttons.

Celluloid was produced in paper-thin sheets, sometimes pigmented to imitate rare natural materials such as tortoiseshell, marble, agate, glass, jade, coral, ivory, jet, and pearl. Victorian-era button manufacturers commonly sandwiched the thin celluloid sheets between ornate pierced-brass tops and rimmed brass bottoms. 

Read more: Celluloid, When Plastic was Fantastic, Buttonology Blog.

Also adorning this one-of-a-kind bracelet are two oval Victorian cufflinks, one with inset crystals and another with a brass swallow escutcheon.

In this piece, from the chain end:

• Tiny brass button with star, circa 1890
• Antique button with two-tone celluloid background, faceted glass insert, and pierced brass overlay, circa 1880-1900
• Victorian-era oval cuff link set with crystals, circa 1890
• Antique button with ombre celluloid background, reverse-painted glass insert, and pierced brass overlay, circa 1880-1900 
• Antique button with ivory and brown celluloid background, prong-set crystal insert, and pierced brass border, circa 1880-1900
• Antique button with ivory and black celluloid background and pierced brass overlay, circa 1880-1900
• Lovely etched Victorian-era cuff link with bird escutcheon, circa 1880-1900
• Antique button with incised ivory and brown celluloid background and pierced brass overlay, circa 1880-1900
• Six brass filigree stampings made today in the USA in vintage dies
• Antiqued brass chain
• Length is 6 ½” to 8 ½”

 Shop Collection: Limited Edition