White Copper Peanut Pumpkin Bracelet Dangle Charm

A peanut beside a pumpkin sets two symbols of many seeds side by side. The peanut is called the long-life fruit, and its shell holds two nuts or three; a pumpkin on one vine sets heavily and its seeds are many. In the old wedding custom of scattering, jujubes, peanuts, longans and lotus seeds stood for sons arriving early. Put these two together and the words do not need saying. Leave a stub of stem on the pumpkin — long enough and it looks real, cut short and it is a ball. The tip of the peanut points down, so that it hangs true.

The peanut’s difficulty is the shell. The netting has to stand raised; cut too deep and it looks dirty, too shallow and it stops reading as a peanut. The ribs of the pumpkin should be even — eight or ten both work — and the grooves between them must run all the way down. The peanut shell needs a waist pinched in, but pinch it too hard and it becomes a dumbbell. Both nuts should be plump, and evenly so, because one plump and one hollow looks as if it has been squeezed. Take an even number of ribs on the pumpkin; odd looks wrong to the eye.

The two small pieces hang on one short chain, one above the other. The peanut is light and the pumpkin solid, so the weight sits low and the piece does not turn over. Join them with fine chain or split rings, and crimp the rings shut. The chain should not be long: past the base of the palm and it gets in the way of work. Choose a heavier gauge for the split rings, since a fine one opens at a pull and then the piece is lost. A modest difference in size between the two is enough; too much and they look unrelated.

White copper fruit shells depend on fettling after casting. The parting line runs along the side, and grinding it away breaks the netting for a stretch; a better piece recuts the pattern where it was removed, so you only see it close up. Finished roughly, the netting stops at the edge and the thing looks like a bald egg at a distance. The warm tone of white copper comes slowly: new it is pale, and one winter of wear settles it down. Do not soak white copper in salt water — it goes black, and the black in the pattern will not wash out.

For a friend getting married it is the obvious gift, and the reason needs no building. Worn yourself, it is simply small and sits at the side of a bracelet without taking up room. Do not chase anyone with the phrase about sons arriving early; a hint is enough and they will understand it. Bought as a pair, one peanut and one pumpkin says more than two of the same. Small pieces like this sell better in pairs than singly, because one on its own always looks incomplete. Pair it with a red cord for a gift, since the colour holds its own against the copper.