The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-02-28

E<-<.-X N1E-N1S 49, - sNEN
~ anything else. The iatteT-day
@0 woman is APP 10 pride herself
upon her individuality, and her ehiefest hor-
ror is the commonplace. The everybody-is-
wearing-this argument, which is the last
word of the department-storc clerks. is suf-
fcient to brighten the discriminating wom-
an definitely away from q frock or hat or
fabric however attractive. She likes to
feel that the style she affects is recognized
by her friends as peculiarly her own-not
that il is what anybody or everybody could
and does affect; it is a source OF gratidca-
tion to her that the particular scent she
uses, the shape and size and color OF her
note paper, her favorite flower or color,
all carry an instant and insistent sug-
gestion of herself to the people who know
her well.
Then, when Dame Fashion says the tur-
quoise is the mode, she plasters herself
over with the blue stones, regardless OF the
fact that all her dear five hundred friends
are equally plastered. and of the more OBJ
vious fact that the great other half of the
world is literally covered with limitations
of the azure jewels. The savage belle who
bedecks herself with strings of bright col
ored beads in lieu of most of the other
clothes recognized as appropriate by the
civilized part of the world, who hangs
metal rings through her nostrils or her
ears, and who places ornament OF un-
doubted gorgeousness on every available To-
cation on her person, follows fashions In
jewelry no more blindly than does the wom-
an of the higher civilization whose jewel
box shows only the conventional brooches
and sunbursts, the stereotyped necklaces,
the chains set with the stylish" jewels OF
the moment, and all the other array of or
naments just like those which might be-
long to any other woman, pocketbooks be-
ing equal.
1t would be heretical to say that the or
naments of the present day were less than
lovely. The beautiful necklaces and brace
let's and pins that are shown in the jew
elers' shops, artistic in design and admlra-
bic in workmanship. are worthy to be
tucked into the most exclusive jewel box
and worn by the most distinguished or
women. But the wonder is that women
should be content with the conventional
ornaments merely, especially those women
who like to make externals express some
thing of their personality. 1t seems as If
the women who care for that kind of thing
would, in addition to the sunbursts and
chains turned out by the manufacturing
jewelers., have two or three bits of jewelry
of exclusive design, lone particularly to
their order and expressing their own ideas
in ornament
HANDWORK IN JEWELRY.
The value of handwork is coming to be
more and more appreciated in this later
day, when there seems to be no limit to the
4 u-Opdarfrtl thinoe fr1rpa1 ont nv machinery
in endless duplicate and replica. The quaint
old pieces of furniture, of pottery, of silver
and copper, which were done by the hands
of those old workers who were at once ar
lists and artisans have an intrinsic value
that the pieces of modern work, finished
in every detail, do not have. In the same
measure the working out of a bit of jewelry
by cunning fingers with the nice i~nexacti-
tudes. the little imperfections that make
UP perfection of handwork give an orna-
ment a distinction and beauty that the
more conventional do not pos
sess.
A few Indianapolis women are interested
enough in the matter of individuality in
iewelry to design certain of their own orna-
ments, and to have their ideas carried out
by workers in the precious metals, and the
INTEREST eAClltQ ny tntI uluSual QecOId-
tons is sufficient TO show the distinctive
impression that such a conventionality
creates. One clever woman has adopted the
clover as her emblem and the pretty bios
SONS and leaves appear on all her belong
ings. The four-leaf clover with its magic
attribute of luck is of course the favorite,
but the modest three-leaf, the blossoms,
red and white, have also their place on the
The bright woman in question
draws her own designs, which are carried
out eXquiSitely by the clever jeweler, the
form of the blossoms and the markings of
the leaves being painstakingly follOwed.
Most OF the ornaments in the clover jewel
box are of silver bronze, which grows the
more beautiful with age, and the markings
on the leaves are traced in gold. Among the
pieces OF jeWelry is a little watch with q
four-leaf clover hand-carved in relief on
the cover. The watch ring instead of be-
ing plain after the manner of watch-rings,
is set on either side with a tiny fOur-leaf
of exquisite workmanship. A set of four
buttons, the size OF a dollar, follows the
clover idea, one with a white blossom, one
with a modest three-leaf. the other two
with the fOur-petaled leaves. A shirtwaist
set OF eight buttons, each the size of a
hve-cent piece, shows the same designs in
miniature with the addition of a red bios
som, and there are two buttons of each de-
sign in the set. A handsome bag with con-
ventionalized clover leaves in steel beads
has a heavy silver frame with a cluster of
NoAN'U OlONcI bicoSOlIS anu ledNcS, ana Is
swung on a quaint carved Mexican chain
of heavy silver.
Two of the handsomest rings in the pos
session of the clover lady are set with her
astral stones. One ring covers half the
finger, and tiny red and white blossoms
and fOur-fingered leaves are worked out
exquisitely in gold, with the stones-the
blue beryl, the aquamarine and the blue
sapphire-set irregularly. In the center of
the inner band Of the ring is the magic
fourleaf, which is always the DISTINGUISHING
mark. a handsome brooch shows the same
stones in an unusual setting of gold. and
the fOur-leaf this time is hidden away on
the under side of the pima wonderfully
beautiful bit of work. finished in every line.
81 like my clovers outside explains the
clover lady; land, like everybody else, /
think that one is too pretty TO hide. But
my jeweler is an artist as we'll as a ieweler.
and he says the jewels must be as beauti-
full inside as outside, so there is no wav 10
show that clover unless / wear my pin in
side out"
The clover idea is carried out in the note
paper on which this interesting woman
sends messages to her friends. as well as
in her jewelry. Her die has the four-leaf
clover, and her seal shows a tiny bit of q
leaf with the same lucky number of petals.
which. when stamped with the green wax
the writer always uses, carries a breath
OF summer fields. And just TO complete
though it's extremely Frenchy, / match my
ink TO my wax and write all my notes in
bright green"
ACTUAL PROPERTIES OF GEMS.
A few other Indianapolis women have