I’ve been toying with this idea for years… NON-morse code jewelry.  But I didn’t want to do it unless it had something truly unique to offer.  I think I’ve come upon a few ideas.  That’s not to say that I won’t make jewelry just because it’s beautiful, but I wanted the debut to involve something special.  

Nothing is officially for sale yet, as mcj’s website needs to be retrofitted to accommodate online purchases (there will also be a morse code jewelry outlet there for pieces that need a home!) but I thought I’d post these pictures to whet your appetite.

Below is a 1.5 inch diameter pendant, with a sterling silver bail (mounted on frosted acrylic just for photography) that features an antique postcard image of Minot Light in Scituate, MA (Cohasset likes to make a fuss that Minot Light belongs to them, but that’s jive… 😉

The glass is jeweler’s grade mineral crystal, and it is sealed and sanded into the back of the glass via hand-casting with resin. 

It is a genuine postcard, and you can see the aging of the paper both front and back, which is linen-based.  As I write this the date of the card is in another room, but if I had to guess from the comfort of my couch, I think I remember it being circa 1912.

From what I understand from the lady who sold me the postcard, I might cause quite a dustup with hard-core postcard collectors by “destroying” it the way I did… Sorry ’bout that, gang.

Next to come will be sand, yes, literally sand, enclosed in glass pendants from local beaches.  It will be “loose” under a low-domed piece of glass.  I’ve had several stops and starts getting this one right.  You wouldn’t think it would be hard to sandwich a little sand in between a couple of pieces of glass, but it can get messy pretty quick if you don’t have a steady hand.  Nothing a little quake-gel and sponge q-tips won’t fix, though…  Yeah, I know.  What the heck am I talking about… I’m not entirely sure either, but that’s the solution that’s workable right now to get it done.  It may become more Rube Goldberg as I go.  Who knows.

In the meantime, keep watching the blog and twitter and www.mcjusa.com for more updates and announcements!