MADE-TO-ORDER, PRE-ORDER. IF IN STOCK, IT WILL SHIP OUT PROMPTLY, BUT IF NOT, WE WILL SHIP ONCE IT'S MADE IN AN ESTIMATED TWO WEEKS.

The spectacular vintage opal cabochon centering this bracelet is a testament to the talents of midcentury German glass artisans. 

German glassmaking is rooted in Northern Bavaria. Influenced by their Czech counterparts in nearby Bohemia, German glassmakers are also renowned for their exceptional skills that evolved over centuries.

Czechoslovakia annexed Northern Bavaria after WWII, and so the resident German glassmakers fled and set up workshops in their new West German communities. They built a thriving glass button industry, and by 1950 West Germany was considered the glass button capital of the world. 

We have a limited number of these rare pink and goldstone-colored cabochons, so this lovely necklace won’t last long.

The German oval is nestled beside a single, one-of-a-kind, antique chased brass button. This older style of Victorian-era buttons is characterized by chased or hammered brass. Metalworkers forged the lovely designs on these buttons by ‘hammering’ on their backside to create a low relief design or ‘chasing’ on the front side to sink the metal. 

We think the hammered-looking surfaces of the vintage oval cabochon perfectly complement the chasing on the antique brass button.

The antique button is one and only, chosen just for you, and so yours will not be identical to the image.

In this piece:

• Antique chased brass button, circa 1870-1880
• Apricot glass cabochon made in West Germany, circa 1950-1960
• Tiny hand-carved Lady Washington mother-of-pearl button, made from Mississippi River mussel shells, on the chain end, circa 1950-1960
• Pronged brass setting, stamped today in the USA in vintage dies
• Brass-plated button setting cast today in the USA
• Antiqued brass chain
• Length is 7” to 8 1/2”