Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Moon Shining on the Indian River. |
The nice clear nights on the Treasure Coast have been very nice lately. Unfortunately it is difficult to capture a moon-lit scene with a camera.
If you are into metal detecting you just keep learning all kinds of things. A lot of the time you'll have something sitting around for a long time and then all of a sudden learn something new about it.
Well I was looking at an old find that I never paid much attention to before and decided to look it up. I thought it might be called a slider watch. I didn't find anything using those exact search terms, but eventually I learned about what are called "slide charms."
Many sites say that Queen Victoria made charm bracelets popular.
In those days watches were relatively large and heavy and worn on a chain around the neck. As a result sliders were used to add a decorative touch but also to keep the chain from twisting. The slider could also be used to alter the length of the chain.
The sliders were often made from brooches or stick pins.
Bracelets can be made by selecting vintage sliders, custom made sliders, and sliders that are personally meaningful or have a theme.
Some companies make reproductions of Victorian or other vintage sliders.
Below is a slide charm watch that got me started looking into this. It was found on a beach years ago.
Shown are two of the many charms on the watch band. Although you can find vintage or antique slide charms, these have a vintage look but could well be reproductions. At this point I haven't really looked into that.
You can see how this spaces and keeps the chain from twisting as it would have on the original old watch chains.
Some slide charms are made of quality materials, including gold or platinum and sell for hundreds of dollars. Others, of course, are not as expensive.
Selecting individual charms for a bracelet would make a nice project and heir loom for a girl.
In summary, I just learned a little something about slide charms as used on bracelets and watches.
If anyone can come up with a photo of a really side charm bracelet or watch from the Victorian era, I'd love to see it. So far I haven't had any luck with that.
Here is a web site that gives some history and background on slide bracelets.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Slide-Bracelets---A-Piece-of-Wearable-History&id=5881516
Rodney B. said,
did u see the new mini series Black Sails? Its set in 1715 and the Pirates
are currently in the Bahammas. From the
previews it looks like the next stop is the Plate fleet laying on the beaches of
florida. Im excited.
I hadn't seen it, but it sounds like something that will be interesting to everybody. I'll watch for it now.
Thats all for now,
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
