Featured Jewelry: Custom Men's Bracelet
A couple of weeks ago, I received an interesting request on Facebook. The message was from a newly wed asking if I made custom bracelets for men. I have never done one before, but I knew it couldn't be too hard. So, I asked her what she wanted me to make for her. She told me that she found two lovely stones on her honeymoon. She had hers made into a necklace, but the lady who made hers could not make one for her husband. So, she asked me to make a bracelet out of the other stone for him.
The bracelet had to fit these requirements:
1) Must attach the stone to a bracelet
2) The bracelet must be leather
3) The leather must be black
4) The wire mustn't be "girly"
5) No studs or extra accents
These requirements were pretty simply, but the first task was the most challenging. How do you attach a rock to a piece of leather without drilling a hole into it? I looked up numerous photos and watched tons of YouTube videos to help me on this one. Unfortunately, every tutorial I watched wanted me to make the stone into a pendant for a NECKLACE!
I could not figure out how to wrap the stone in wire without putting a loop on it to attach to a necklace. I then asked the lady if she was 100% sure that she wanted a bracelet and not a necklace. Of course she came back and said, she thought a necklace would look similar to hers and be too "girly". She also told me that if I really could not make a bracelet, she would be okay with a keychain instead, but absolutely NO necklace.
I remember almost giving up at this point because I had no idea how to attach that beautiful stone to a piece of leather without ruining it and I also didn't want to settle for a keychain either.
I finally went into my local craft store, ACMoore to have a look around at what they had in stock. In the store, I found a piece of leather that was already made into a bracelet! It had two snap buttons on it and was ready to go! The best part about it was that it was black and it had slits cut into it. These slits were perfect because they gave me room to attach the wire wrapped around the stone!
(Here is a photo of the leather I found)
I suddenly felt hopeful that I could make this bracelet and meet all of the requirements she had wanted. I wrapped the wire around a few times until I got a design on the front of it that I liked. Then, I took the loose ends of the wire and began to weave them in and out of the slits in the leather. I made sure that each end of the wire was facing the same direction so they would not stab his wrist.
(This is what the wire looked like after I wrapped it around the leather)
To be extra safe about protecting the ends of the wire, I cut a piece of black fabric and glued it over top of the wires. This fabric would be a barrier between his skin and the wires, to ensure that the wires would not poke or scratch his skin. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the fabric covering the wire.
(Here is my dad modeling the bracelet for me)
I was so excited to finally finish this piece and I was so proud of the work I created. This was my most challenging, but most rewarding piece of jewelry I have ever made. I loved working on it, because I learned so much through my research of how to wrap the stone. I am now going to use the skills I just gained to make wire wrapped sea glass necklaces! So stay tuned for those necklaces to be released next season!
I couldn't be happier with the results of this bracelet, and the customer was pleased as well. She informed me that it was perfect and her husband loved it!!! Yay!!! That is exactly what I like to hear!
If you have any requests for custom jewelry do not hesitate to contact me through this blog or through my Etsy and Facebook sites!
Artistically Yours,
Brianna
A.K.A. Beach Bird
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