Dishfunctional Designs: Upcycled Vintage Ladies Watches Into Photo Memory Bracelets

Monday, May 28, 2018

Upcycled Vintage Ladies Watches Into Photo Memory Bracelets

These days I think I have only one or two friends who actually wear wrist watches. I think most of us now rely on our cell phones to be our timepieces. But just a few years ago things were different. Before cell phones, nearly everyone wore a watch!

And I think many would agree that wrist watches are one of the most inherited items in families. I love the dainty antique ladies watches from around the 1910's to 1940's. I once inherited one that belonged to my grandmother and although it stopped working long ago, I continued to wear it for many years, until one day, when I realized I had lost the watchface, and only the band and crystal remained. Ugh! I still feel sad about losing it. I never found it and have no idea where or when it went missing. But I still had the band and crystal, so into the jewelry box they went.

But lo.

Behold the vintage watch band bracelet.

By opening the crystal and inserting a small photo of a loved one (how about a photo of the person who you inherited the watch from?) you can give new life to your old inheritance, giving it a whole new look as an heirloom to pass on to your own loved ones one day.

If you've lost the watch face and back (the inner watch workings) as I have, you can cut out your photo and insert it behind the crystal, but then you will need to find a way to hold the photo in place.

If you have experience working with clear liquid resin, this might work, but I wouldn't try it unless you first experiment a bit with resin because it can be tricky and can take a little bit of time to get used to the ins and outs of the craft.

Also, if you are putting resin on paper, you must seal the paper first with some type of sealant! I explain how to do this in my book Boho Chic Jewelry: 25 Timeless Designs Using Soldering, Beading, Wire-Wrapping and More in my Poetic Seashell & Stone Necklace project on page 93!

If you are experienced with metalwork or soldering, another idea might be to cut a small piece of metal to fit behind the photo and then secure it in place somehow.

Either way, make sure you use a copy of your vintage photo and not the original!

Have you ever inherited a watch from a loved one? Leave me a comment below!