Bumbershoot Designs and Supplies June 2014 Special for Newsletter Subscribers

Vintage Czech Glass Pearl Buttons, free with purchase! – Our treat for June for our newsletter subscribers is two of these simply gorgeous vintage Czech pearl buttons adorned with rhinestones. Pearl is the birthstone for June and these buttons would be a wonderful feature in any of your June creations. They would also look lovely sewn onto your favorite blouse or maybe even your wedding dress, or used as a bracelet clasp.

Our newsletter subscribers can receive these buttons free with any purchase at Bumbershoot Supplies or Bumbershoot Designs.  See your June 1 and June 15 newsletters for details and the coupon code.

Also, don't forget your 1-time free shipping offer that you received when you signed up for our newsletter.

And YES, you can combine specials. So you can have the buttons plus the free shipping code you received upon signing up for the newsletter in the same order!

Not yet a newsletter subscriber? You can read past issues and you can sign up right here and get your free shipping and earring kit at your next purchase!
 

June's Birthstone: Pearl

Vintage Faux Pearls White Rounds Japan.

June's birthstone is the pearl.

We have a large selection of gorgeous mother of pearl and faux glass pearls at Bumbershoot Supplies and Bumbershoot Designs. 

 

Vintage Glass Beads Faux Pearls Pink Peach Textured.

Vintage Pearl Earrings Ivory Peridot Sterling Gemstone.

Vintage Beads Glass Pearls Ivory Cream Original Strand.

Pearls have been prized for their beauty and rarity since ancient times. Up until the 20th century they were extremely rare and more expensive than diamonds. Around the 1920s technological advances made it possible to culture pearls and create them artificially, making pearls more available to everyone. But pearls haven't lost their allure over the years.

 

Vintage Glass Bead Earrings Green Pearl Rings Sterling.

 

Vintage Bead Glass Pearls Silver Grey Baroque Haskell.

Vintage Glass Pearls White Bracelet Blank Majorica.

Pearls have been June's birthstone since 1912. Before that moonstone and agate held the title of birthstone for June. In 1952, alexandrite was also added as an additional birthstone for June. You will find several beautiful color changing vintage faux alexandrite items at Bumbershoot Supplies.  

 

Pink Vintage Pearl Moonstone Earrings Brass Filigree.

Vintage Glass Beads Drops Ivory Pearl Earring Finding.

Vintage Beads Faux Pearls Mint Green Round Japan.

Want to learn a little more about vintage glass pearls? We've created a blog post about working with them here! We've also talked about the history of glass pearls and the history of Spanish faux pearls. For some extra inspiration check out our post on the vintage Miriam Haskell pearl bracelet from our collection. 

 

Vintage Ivory Pearl Bead Love Knot Finding Japan.

Marie Antoinette Vintage Pearl Necklace Sterling Silver.

Vintage Pearl Bead Drop White Filigree Gold Bead Cap.

For some elegant inspiration this June, we invite you to browse our extensive vintage faux pearl collection at  Bumbershoot Supplies and Bumbershoot Designs.

 

 

Spanish Pearls: The History of Majorica Pearls

At Bumbershoot Supplies, we were very excited because we recently acquired a limited number of unfinished vintage bracelet strands made from Majorica pearls. But what are Majorica pearls and why are they special?

 

Off the coast of Spain, on the island of Majorca are made some the world's finest imitation pearls. The company, Marjorica, has been making beautiful faux pearls for over 100 years.

 

Established in 1890 and moved to the island in the early 1900s, founder Eduard Heusch set out to create pearls as good as the real ones but more attainable. It would not be until the 1920s and 1930s when cultured pearls would become more generally available on the market, and so there was room for Heusch's excellent alternative.

 

Throughout the twentieth century technological advances made it possible to produce more "Spanish pearls", as they were called, and at a higher quality.

source

Upon Heusch's death in 1937, his son took over the company and changed the name to "Majorica Pearls" in 1950, after the island where the pearls were produced. Majorica was the only company to produce faux pearls throughout World War II, due to Spain's neutrality, and the company exported over one million pearl strand necklaces to the United States during that time.

Majorica pearls have been long associated with beauty and refinement, and internationalization and glamour would continue to be the path for the company into the later half of the twentieth century. Majorica sponsored the Venice Film Festival in the 1960s where they associated their pearls with stars such as Sophia Loren.  Even today the brand continues to be associated with celebrities, as well as high end fashion and jewelry design.

 

If you visit the Majorica website, you can view a fascinating video showing how these pearls are made, from hand forming the crystal nucleus, to hand dipping in the secret "pearl essence" to checking, polishing and hand knotting.

 

If you would like to read more about the history of Majorica check out their timeline. To learn more about the process of making the pearls check out their website and this article Gemological Institute of America about Majorica pearls.

If you, like us, love vintage glass pearls you might also enjoy this post about glass pearls and Leonardo da Vinci's pearl recipe.