The Chinese zodiac assigns an animal sign to each year of a 12-year cycle, and the Year of the Rooster starts on January 28. That means the last Rooster Year was in 2005, two years before I started this blog. I’ve never celebrated a Rooster Year here, and that’s all the excuse I need to give one of my classic designs a second opportunity to be Jewel of the Month.
Yep, it’s my chicken-in-egg locket, inspired by a golden egg objet d’art that I saw in the Royal Danish Collection in Copenhagen. The original can be separated into an ivory eggshell, a gold eggshell, hen, crown, and ring … and there’s a yolk!
I’m so jealous of that yolk. Unfortunately, I didn’t have space to include a yolk, because my locket is much smaller than the original object. (When I’m directly inspired by objects that I see in a museum, I like to shrink the large things and enlarge the small things.) In the case of my necklace, when the 18K gold egg is opened up, out pops a silver chicken with diamond eyes.
Isn’t she adorable? But that’s not all, because the chicken opens up to reveal three golden eggs in her nest.
This design slayed at last week’s Metal & Smith jewelry show. People were asking, “How do you DO these things?!” All I can say is that a piece like this is not easy! As I wrote when I introduced the chicken in its previous Jewel of the Month post, work like this is limited-edition, wearable art.
Admittedly, hens sit on nests, not roosters, but still … chickens! During the Year of the Rooster, simply tell your friends this is a rooster who stepped up to help with the kids. Who doesn’t love an involved father?
I only keep one of these necklaces in stock at any given time and I never make another until the previous one is sold. There will only be five of these ever made — if that many. So, if you’re someone who craves the unique, this is the necklace for you. I guarantee it will be a huge hit at any Rooster New Year’s celebration you attend. Remember, there’s just one available, so if you want yours for January 28, order today. I’m happy to answer any questions you might have about the necklace before you purchase it. Email those to me at info at wendybrandes dot com.