I recently came across a fabulous informational blog, Regency Redingote. Written by a former curator, it has fantastic in-depth articles on many facets of English Regency life. One post was on Acrostic jewelry, a type of sentimental jewelry where the first letter of a gemstone name is used to spell a word. This type of jewelry became popular in the early 1800s and continued to be made throughout the century.
For instance:
R - Ruby
E - Emerald
G - Garnet
A - Amythest
R - Ruby
D - Diamond
Common English acrostics are REGARD, DEAREST, ADORE and LOVE. Acrostics were popular in France as well. Napolean commissioned acrostic bracelets for his family commemorating at least one of his conquests.
Check my Pinterest Board on Sentimental Jewelry for more.
 |
| Acrostic ring REGARD |
To make my acrostic jewelry I used glass flat-back rhinestones (4mm) and modern metal findings. It was difficult to find round settings with 6 places, so I was limited to spelling Dearest for round settings. I also tried a couple of straight line settings glued to plain bands.
 |
| Acrostic jewelry making supplies |
 |
| Rhinestones spelling DEAREST lined up and ready to glue |
 |
| DEAREST - Diamond, Emerald, Amythest, Ruby, Emerald, Saphire, Turquoise |
 |
| Adjustable ring back glued on |
 |
| DEAREST in prong setting with Topaz instead of Turquoise |
 |
| Selection of acrostic jewelry From left to right: DEAREST, REGARD, LOVE, and DEAREST |
No comments:
Post a Comment