What a dapper chap! I was inspired by a few posts and popularity of my LED experiments in design. Found an old skull charm, gave him goggles and cobbled together a top hat from an XL brass eyelet, some cut brass tubing and walled setting. I attached it at a slight jaunty angle. Couldn’t resist installing a tiny LED within the skull set in resin. Like my other pieces it’s powered by putting a small clutch battery pack on a small post. The whole piece is set on a stick pin so it could be worn on a cravat or dress coat. Unfortunately, the LED has made it very difficult to photograph accurately. The light seems too bright but in reality it’s just an eerie green glow. Perfect finish to a gentleman’s outfit who dabbles in the macabre and dark arts. The batteries are easy to replace.
This is made from a gold plated fuse, used in high end stereo for superior sound quality. They have such a great look - atompunk/mid century - I didn’t want to really alter the look. The internal gold plate “S” connection has such great form I couldn’t improve on it. I’ve sold several attached horizontally on a cord for men’s jewellery. Audiophiles love them.
But I wanted to highlight it with light. On the bottom of the fuse I’ve installed an LED with a connection post running through the base cap. The light is turned on by plugging that pin into a small silver tone battery pack. It holds tight to the pin. The battery pack unscrews at the top so batteries can be replaced. The bracket holding the fuse is not fixed so you could turn it up the other way and have the battery pack on the top of the fuse. To balance the piece without the battery I created a similar post on the other end.
Why should fun jewellery, brave jewellery design using light be the domain of gaudy kitsch - plastic flashing Christmas earrings, disposable dance/rave accessories and cheap novelty toys for kids? Why can’t it be used in high quality unique design? Yes, it’s a bit mad scientist and will certainly attract attention whether the light is on or off.
This is a recent commissioned piece - a Christmas gift for my client’s partner. I was going to mount the spring loaded clip holding the vial on a plain rectangular piece of brass.On a whim I held it over the copper ring that was on my work area. Although it’s quite simple I’m really happy how it’s turned out and will take this concept a bit further in the next piece. I’ve got to buy more tritium as I’m down to my last few sticks - just yellow and pink left.
Los Angeles based The Giving Keys provide employment for people transitioning out of homelessness, and create handmade jewelry for women and men using repurposed keys engraved with inspiring words. Choose a word which resonates with you and then eventually pay it forward to someone else who needs it more. www.thegivingkeys.com Post link