Bracelet Form Blending

So today let’s talk bracelets. Bracelets have a consideration that necklaces and earrings do not in that they will regularly be knocked and rubbed against a wide variety of objects so they need to be durable and their surfaces need to be able to take some wear. That is probably why the three primary constructions used in polymer bracelets are a string of beads, the bangle and the cuff–good standards and well suited for showing off bead work and surface designs as well as being strong.  But what other approaches can we take?

The more exciting construction designs I’ve seen combine common approaches. Below we have a modified cuff made of two halves that could be called beads since they are strung together with a band of elastic through their center.  (There is a tutorial on how to make these in the July 2010 issue of Art Jewelry magazine and on AJM’s website.) So it’s a combination of cuff and bead really.

You may have recognized these bracelets as the work of Helen Breil, an amazing artist with an intensely creative yet practical approach to jewelry art. She is the author of one of the most unique how-to books for polymer, Shapes. Her sophisticated bracelets popped directly to mind when I started thinking about what we have to consider when constructing bracelets.

Bettina Welker was the other that came to mind. I introduced you to one of her more ingenious bracelet constructions in February. Bettina has quite a number of interesting and problem solving ways to build, hinge and close a bracelet in her book Polymer Clay Bracelets. If you have an interest in pushing beyond the usual with bracelets, you’ll really want to get your hands on this book.

By the way, both Helen and Bettina’s books were reviewed in our Spring issue of The Polymer Arts magazine with sample pages and titillating previews of some of the ideas inside. Get your copy at www.thepolymerarts.com.