Vintage GEM LAPIS Carved shops Shou ETERNITY Bead Bracelet, Vintage 1970s Chinese Champleve cloisonné beads ,Bali Silver Clasp
Vintage Chinese Lapis Lazuli Carved Bead 1970, Vintage German Blue Glass Flower Beads 1950, Vintage Chinese Rare Blue Champleve Cloisonné Beads 1970, Bali Sterling Silver Toggle Clasp
An exquisite 15mm AA grade lapis bead has been ornately hand carved with the Chinese eternity or shou symbol. There are 25mm to the inch so this bead is approximately 5/8 " in diameter.
Additional gorgeous AAA grade 10mm lapis beads beautifully highlight the two vintage Chinese dark cobalt blue champleve cloisonne beads which measure approximately 13mm ( 5/8" ).
◉ Vintage Chinese champleve cloisonné from the 1970s is quite sought after and highly collectible as the workmanship is superb and far above what is being exported from China these days.
► All the stone beads which I use were personally selected by me in Hong Kong during the 1970s-1980s when the shops standards of cutting were meticulous. Nowadays, stone beads are being cut and imported from India where the labor is cheap, the beads are not always perfectly round, nor do they have an even polish and many times they are not even drilled all the way through .
Delicate sapphire blue vintage 1950s German pressed glass flower spacer beads add another texture and more interest to this luxurious asymmetrical bracelet.
➤ The way that this type of pressed glass bead was made is fascinating! The glass that was going to be used was first heated on a mandrel (rod) in much the same way that lamp work beads are made today.
A 'press' which almost resembled tongs used to cook with, was then wrapped around the molten glass to form the desired shape. Many times, VERY detailed impressions were on the ends of these tongs that were used in these vintage West German ' pressed' glass beads so that the final bead looked almost as if it were 'etched' or 'carved'.
◉ As a point of interest : The German glass bead industry began in 1948 when German glass makers were evicted from Czechoslovakia because of their German surnames. Of the two thousand or so workers and owners evicted- only about 2 or 3 were still making hand pressed glass in the 70's.
All the vintage German glass beads that I use in my work is from this earliest time period ( the 1950s ) and not the 1970s and later.
Sterling silver beads add additional definition and this bracelet has been finished on a a Bali silver toggle clasp.
This bracelet measures approximately 7 5/8" long and will arrive gift wrapped in a complimentary vintage embroidered Chinese silk brocade purse all ready for gift giving.
◉ COORDINATED EARRINGS PICTURED ABOVE SOLD SEPARATELY:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1267659017/vintage-chinese-lapis-gem-aaa-grade-shou
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1299754688/vintage-lapis-eternity-shou-chinese
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1301300274/vintage-chinese-lapis-eternity-shou
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▶︎ I also sell these vintage Chinese 1970s embroidered silk brocade purses - AVAILABLE in 3 DIFFERENT SIZES - in my other Etsy vintage supply shop - http://www.EurekaEureka.etsy.com
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► Revered by ancient civilizations and prized more highly than gold, lapis has an unrivaled and unbroken record as a precious commodity that has endured more than 7,000 years.
Ancient caravan routes have been traced across the middle east from the original sources in Afghanistan across the kingdoms of Mesopotamia and Assyria to the royal courts of Sumer and Egypt.
Lapis was used in jewelry, regal objects and the most sacred of religious rituals; it was even a component of the Breastplate of the High Priest, one of 12 stones symbolically representing the ancient tribes of Israel. Lapis is actually not a mineral, but a rock, made up of a collection of minerals that give it texture and variety. The gold flecks are the mineral pyrite (sometimes known as "fools' gold") and the white spots are calcite.
The finest lapis comes from Afghanistan but more recent finds have been made in such unlikely places as Chile, Colorado and Siberia. The color of lapis is so intense, vibrant and luminous that the stone even found its way into great art. The Dutch painter, Vermeer, is noted for a unique blue color that bears his name. This color was achieved by adding finely ground lapis to the pigment. No other coloring agent produces this hue, and no other artist has used this technique ever since.
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