Copper All-Deity Talisman Square Block Pattern Bracelet

The hardest thing to get right on a bracelet is the length. Buy it short and it will not fasten; buy it long and it spins, the beads sliding around the wrist until a day of wearing becomes irritating. Fingers vary in thickness and so do wrists, and the two hands of one person can differ by half a centimetre. So once a piece like this is sized, the steps have to be close together, one every two centimetres, to be of any use. The two centimetres between steps, in wear, is a difference in tightness rather than in length.

Taboo characters are a Daoist way of writing a god's name, dissolving the name into a composite character with the strokes stacked and not read like ordinary text. They appear on scriptures, command tablets, bells and chimes; the writing differs slightly from hand to hand, but the skeleton is broadly the same. A string of deities' taboo characters amounts to keeping several gods' names about one's person, a common idea in folk jewellery, where the point is completeness. Those who know the characters read the structure, those who do not read the shape, and both readings hold.

The square block is the basic unit of this piece. One block, one character on a face, four corners rounded; once strung, the blocks press against one another and do not turn over. The advantage of a square is that the character has somewhere to sit; the disadvantage is a hard edge, which digs into the wrist if the work is careless. So all four edges of every block are sanded, and only when it feels right under the finger is it strung. Block size follows the number of strokes: too large and the character looks empty, too small and it is cramped.

The gaps between blocks hold dirt. Take the bracelet off, use warm water with a little neutral soap and a soft brush, rinse and dry. When the copper dulls, put polish on a cloth and do the faces of the blocks, leaving the dark in the recessed strokes. The cord is a consumable, replaced every six months to a year; while restringing, check the hole of each block and run rolled fine abrasive paper through any that have burrs. Left unworn it takes on a thin film, which is oxidation, and two days of wearing rubs it back.

Sizes run from eighteen centimetres to twenty-two and a half, in fine steps. Measure the wrist with a soft tape against the bone, not pulled tight, and add one to one and a half centimetres to the figure for the right length. Add two centimetres if you like it loose, half a centimetre if you like it close. A bracelet is not a watch: a little play keeps it from trapping sweat. Do not measure first thing in the morning, when the wrist is thin; by evening it swells by half a size.