Letter Jewelry
Part 1 of 2

Art Beads.com, an online company selling jewelry supplies recently contacted me and asked if I would review one of their new products. Would I ever!

Besides the staples, they carry a number of unique lines and it was hard to choose. I finally chose their antiqued alphabet solid Bronze Pendants in my initial. The pendants are made by Sentiment Redesigned exclusively for Art Beads.

They did not know when they first approached me how much of a bronze fan I was. Bronze is a copper and tin alloy. The resulting colour, especially when antiqued is flattering to many skin tones, better than the brighter copper on its own. In some light, it looks almost like brass or gold so one must be careful when designing with other beads. Indeed, it looked like vintage brass in the artificial light of my basement workshop. I'm not sure if you can see on your screen, but when compared to my other antiqued copper (left) and vintage brass (right) findings, bronze possesses the color characteristics of both.




There were a number of designs I had in mind for it but in the end, as the pendant was for me, I plumbed for a simple twisted cord necklace. My jewelry preference is for uncluttered and bold jewelry. The black cord also goes with much of my wardrobe as I wear that neutral color a lot. I doubled the cord because it balanced the generously sized bail better than a single cord would have. I didn't have anything thicker than 2 mm. I also made the cord ends and clasp for it (tutorial coming up!)



I thought this pendant was really lovely - the old fashioned look appealed to the history buff in me. It's also just right in terms of size. The only negative thing is the price. The bronze pendant costs a whopping $43 each but that drops to $35 if you bought four or more. Still, it is solid bronze not plated. It's also made in the USA and not in some sweatshop overseas. It might be an idea to do a group buy if several people you know like them too.

Having wetted my appetite, I went looking at the other bronze pendant section they had. I found their quotation pendants less attractive. The shape of some of the castings were not as pleasing. Some of the quotations were also too long and hard to read. I don't know about you, but I prefer people to look at my face when I'm talking to them and not at my chest!

What I was hoping to see were more of the focal pieces like those carried by Vintaj Brass but in bronze. As this metal gets more and more popular, I wouldn't be surprised when manufacturers and suppliers start offering a larger range of products to satisfy bronze fans.
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The Beading Gem's Journal

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