White Copper Dangle Charm

Six styles are laid out on the table and their shapes are far apart. The little fish bell is fish-shaped with a round belly and rings when shaken. Peanut and pumpkin are two crops, one long and one flat. The pink stone tassel is a small bundle of thread with a pink stone set at its head. The zircon gourd has a ring of bright points set into it. The fretwork ring is a set of rings inside one another that turn. The heart pendant is a heart and the simplest of the six. All six share the same ring size at the top, so they can be swapped without changing the cord.

How a dangle is used depends on where it hangs. Under the guru bead of a mala, choose short and light so it does not swing as you walk; on a bag, a tassel piece gives some movement to the shape; on a key ring, choose a solid one that can take being ground against keys. Different fixing points call for different choices, and good looks alone are not enough. Height matters too: hang it too low and it knocks against your hand as you walk.

The noisy ones and the swaying ones are two different pleasures. A bell rings with every step, which is loud in a quiet place and just right in a busy one; a tassel makes no sound, and what moves is its shadow, hanging over the edge of a table when you sit and swinging gently. The ring turns, and as it does the pattern on the outer band travels with it; idle hands tend to keep it going. The pellet inside the bell is loose, and a shake tells you it is rolling there.

The two with stone in the name are set with stones, not diamonds, so do not go looking for a bargain at diamond value. The stones are small and the setting shallow, held by adhesive and a rolled edge, and a knock can bring one out. When the piece arrives, press the setting with a fingertip; if it shifts, exchange it. On the gourd the points run in a single circle, and losing one breaks the circle, which is awkward to put right. Ask what the stone actually is instead of guessing; a wrong guess only sours you on the piece.

A charm hangs on the outside and gets knocked about. The rim of the bell is the thinnest part, and once it is flattened the note goes dull. Tassel thread dislikes water and knots when it is washed. Dust in the joint of the turning ring stiffens it, and a drop of sewing machine oil frees it again. Store them separately: several in one bag grind against each other and none of them comes out looking well. A touch of clear nail polish on the end of a tassel holds better than a knot.