From Favorite Heirloom to Funky Pin

Just a picture of a fun transformation..something old to something new, although this isn't for a wedding. An acquaintance had her mother's old watchface sitting in a drawer, and like most things that we call "heirlooms" it had no intrinsic value except that it had been her mom's. The winding pin had been lost, the case was sprung and the band had long ago disintegrated. But on the back of the case, engraved for posterity, was her mother's name.

One can only guess at the story...was this a wedding gift...a memento after a baby's birth...a 25th anniversary gift. Was it a special gift from her children, after saving their allowances for a long season for mom? Hmmm, if watches could only talk. I'm sure it would have a story or two to tell about the history it has witnessed.

Well, the watch, in it's present disheveled condition was brought to me...could I make it into a pin? "Why, of course" was my immediate reply, because I thought it would be a cinch. The owner, happy now that she had found a new purpose for her mother's watch, as well as two other pieces of jewelry that I was going to reconstruct and update, took off for home.

Well this was no cinch. First of all, pins are not "in" this year. I walked the mall, from one end to the other looking for just the right thing on which to attach the watch. I checked my catalogs, one after the other, finding nothing that was "just right", and the selection I had to pick from was slim. One last stop on the way home led me to a craft store where I found what finally became my choice. I'm not sure if I picked it because it was perfect, or if it was just "a pin that would work". Plain...almost homely, it had possibilities to be dressed up and made into something cute. My mind was racing.

This picture doesn't reflect the colors...the request I had was for blues, greens and a touch of purple. They are beautiful together and irridescent in the light. I wired swirls in several spots and crinkled the wire in others, studding the crinkled wire with shiny color spot beads. Oh yeah, and it was an engineering feat to keep the watch level and not sliding all across the watch band bar. Anyhow, here it is, from "favorite heirloom to funky pin." Hope she likes it!! I think her mom would be pleased...or maybe she'd roll her eyes and groan. But yay, it's done!