say hello to Alma and Ben, earrings

antique assemblage earrings

I'm not sure what I will call this pair, maybe Alma & Ben. They were described as love tokens in the auction I won, but they look more like they were cut from some other existing piece of silver, since there is cutwork on the backs. At any rate, they're silver. And the coral bits are coral, originally from an antique necklace that belonged to my grandmother. The string disintegrated, so I've had this box of coral pieces with drilled holes, thinking I'd eventually use them for something, and lo and behold: Alma & Ben.

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Compendium of Chains

I want to be able to describe the things I sell in my Etsy shop. In googling for "types of chains," I've yet to come across a comprehensive site. Part of the problem is that I'm interested in using that brass chain with the ring that pulls open the antique lock on the top of the door in that old store.

Typical scenario: I walk into an antique store and address the salesperson.

Me: Do you have any brass chain?

Proprietor: There are some gold watch chains over in this case.

Me: What about that brass chain that's holding the lid of the case to the box? It has such a great patina...

Thus, the names of hardware-store chain types are necessary, too.

So, here's the start of my Compendium of Chains:


single jack and double jack

double loop

sash 

plumber's 

box or venitian

figaro

curb

singapore

bead

rolo

snake

mesh

byzantine

wheat

cable 

herringbone

mariner

omega

rope

serpentine

foxtail

trombone

fetterlink

Then there are catches, but maybe for another time...

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