In which I turn a glass-and-brass necklace into a DIY Georgian parure:
I enjoy turning pretty things into other pretty things. Take this J.Crew necklace:
The hug-and kiss design of the necklace looks a lot like extant paste pieces from the mid 18th Century and is already pretty good for historical costuming exactly as it is.
And once upon a time, with patience and diligent effort, you could occasionally find one of these J.Crew necklaces on ebay, and you’d prize it rather like a dragon sitting on her spikey diamond nest. Today, however, you don’t need to hoard! The design appears to have passed to another company, and there are several sellers on ebay making necklace and bracelet reproductions of the J.Crew originals!
So what’s a parure, then?
A parure is a set of jewelry intended to be worn together. A necklace and bracelets, perhaps. Earrings as well. Maybe hair combs. A brooch. A tiara.
I happen to own 2 of the original J.Crew necklaces: one for keeping exactly as it is, and the other one for cutting up into something else. A seller of the new sort sold me a pair of matching bracelets, so I was ready to go – all set to make an acceptable Georgian Parure.
The Bracelets:
The bracelets were too long, so I shortened them by taking two heart-and-kiss sections off of each one.
I should really put jump rings and ribbons on the bracelets and close them with ribbon ties, but these bracelets are HEAVY, and once I start moving my arms, ribbons wouldn’t stand a chance! I don’t want to lose the bracelets while dancing, so we will conveniently remember that this is costuming, not reenacting, and move right along. Nothing to see here but the bling.
The necklace:
I shortened the necklace slightly by removing two hug-and-kiss sections, and replaced the lobster clasp with two 20mm closed jump rings. The necklace won’t be under as much stress as the bracelets, so I’m happy to use a ribbon clasp here.
It was very common in the period to string a pendant drop from a paste necklace
I removed the center kiss from my own necklace, and strung one of the spare hug-and-kiss sections to a drop from a cubic zirconia earring to make a pendant.
The first drop I made was too long, so I shortened it –
which involved digging up some larger jump rings to help the kiss clear the central hugs!
The leftover sections from the modern bracelets sections make nice “historically inspired” earrings –
But I’m thinking I need another earring drop at the bottom of each to take them to historically plausible!
The Bracelets were purchased from this ebay seller. This seller also sells necklaces.
For the pendant drop, search aliexpress for ‘water drop cz wedding earrings’ and you’ll find lots of them. The ones I had on hand were a silver setting, but they are also available in rose gold, which would better match the necklace.
Have fun!