What is your favorite insect? I think nine out of ten people would say it was the butterfly. I’d venture to guess that many people don’t even think of this bug as an insect, imagining those creepy crawly nasty things have nothing to do with this magnificent winged creature. Just look at all the colorful butterfly wearable art available! How many cockroach brooches and ant earrings have you seen? Seriously, the butterfly is truly beautiful, despite the fact that it is, indeed, still a bug.
If you can open your eyes to a truly magnificent rendering of this insect, the creative butterfly jewelry designs here take you on a fantastic yet finite tour of fifteen wonderful examples of one artist’s conception of this critter. All of them have a look that ties them together, yet each one is truly unique. You like color? You’ll find it here in several lovely necklaces, earrings and pins. Are you more conservative? How about a sweet little sterling butterfly pendant or possibly the same design in 14K gold?
I find it interesting that different artists’ conception of this animal vary so widely. I suppose when seen through different eyes the butterfly could appear large, small, delicate, humorous, colorful or poetic. I’m sure there are hundreds if not thousands of poems dedicated to this little creature, so that last one is not as unusual as you might think.
Me, I’m a guy so I can’t wear the jewelry. But I’m also a connoisseur of fine porcelain, silver, gold and enamel butterfly designs, and these I happily collect whenever I can find them (not the easiest thing in the world). Besides having to endure the incredulous looks of shopkeepers, I have to get the items home in one piece, sometimes a challenge for my naturally butter-fingered self.
Sometimes I think “Oh that I could be a woman, able to pick up a lovely butterfly pendant in an antique store or thrift shop and bring it home to examine it more closely.” My sister does wear animal jewelry, and I keep vigilant on these shopping excursions, hoping for something lovely to give her for her birthday. In these cases, I can do just that. (Bringing them home for a closer inspection.) It’s a little bit like looking for colored glass on the seashore, an adventure becoming less and less satisfactory as plastic replaces glass bottles. Thus it is with antique butterfly jewelry.
Lucky for us all that there are jewelers still willing to make designs of the butterfly, and are following in the creative footsteps of their forefathers and mothers. From the sparkly rhinestone brooches of the 1940s and 50s to the more modern artisans of the 20th century artists have long been entranced by this little bug. I only hope this love and fascination follows them into the 21st century.