Ophilie Bracelet - Celluloid Limited Edition
Regular price $225.00This 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.
For this stunning design, she carefully assembled a veritable starter collection of antique Victorian-era buttons in various materials, including three with mottled celluloid backgrounds and another with laminated mother-of-pearl and brown celluloid layers.
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.
Read more: Celluloid, When Plastic was Fantastic, Buttonology Blog.
Also of note is a small antique Victorian-era perfume button. Victorian-era women dabbed their favorite scent onto these tiny talismans and stitched them under their lovers' collars as a constant reminder of their love.
In this piece, from the chain end:
- Tiny brass and jet glass waistcoat button, circa 1860
- Antique button with imitation marble celluloid background and ornate brass border, circa 1880-1900
- Small Victorian brass and velvet perfume button, circa 1870-1890
- Medium-sized antique button with celluloid background, silvered jet glass insert, and pierced brass border, circa 1880-1900
- Antique square button with layers of mother-of-pearl and brown celluloid, circa 1890
- Antique button with ivory celluloid background, white metal and copper insert, and ornate brass border, circa 1880-1900
- Five stamped brass settings made today in the USA in vintage dies
- Four round brass filigrees stamped today in the USA in vintage dies
- Antiqued brass chain
- Length is 6 ½” to 8 ½”
Shop Collection: Limited Edition
