Product Info

A.J. Hedges and Co. were one of the great jewelry manufacturers in Newark, New Jersey during the last decades of the 19th century and the first half of the twentieth century at a time when Newark was the jewelry-making capital of the United States. According to The Glitter and the Gold, Fashioning America’s Jewelry, in 1879 Hedges received a patent for making jewelry out of mottled multicolor gold, which they use to great effect in this bracelet, known as the “Handkerchief” bracelet (shown on page 76 of the book).

A remarkable piece of jewelry that is way ahead of its time, this bracelet takes the form of a series of patchwork handkerchiefs held together with straight pins. If you didn't know that this bracelet was Victorian it could pass as a contemporary piece of conceptual art jewelry.

The patchwork links consist of multicolored 14 karat gold in yellow, rose, and greyish white (also ahead of its time since white gold wasn't in common use until decades after this bracelet was made). The center link is set with a cornflower blue Montana sapphire.

Examples of this bracelet are in the collections of the Newark Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it was featured in the “Jewelry for America” exhibit. Click here to see it on the Met's website.

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