Hair ornaments

[Lady_Disdain]

Why are high quality hair accessories so rare? I mean well designed pieces in precious metals and with gems. Even celebrities and royalty have to make do with brooches in their hair. A diamond pave hair slide (very thin and delicate) would look stunning on sleek dark hair, for example. Or rich gold in blonde hair, accented with red tourmalines.

This sort of piece would probably need less raw materials than a bangle, for example. And the hardware itself could either be work hardened 14k gold (very springy and resistant) or even comercial steel pieces.

I am seriously considering having some custom made - silver and coloured gems. Now I need ideas for designs and inspiration.

 

[Circe]

Excellent question! I've wondered this myself. I have waist-length hair, and I'd love to be able to decorate it properly ... so I fall back on hair ornaments from Oberon Designs and the like, and shop for vintage hair-pieces (one of my favorite finds in London was a two-pronged mother-of-pearl comb). But it'd be nice to have begemmed options out there, too ....

 

[Circe]

Apparently, the Victorians were better about this sort of thing than we are. Lang Antiques has a lovely selection of things under "accessories."

Voila: http://www.langantiques.com/products/item/100-1-1088

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Circe - thank you for the link - Lang is just amazing, isn't it?

Wow - a barette with 4 cts of diamonds on platinum! Impressive as that piece is, I must say I tend heavily towards plique-a-jour combs.

 

[Rae~]

Oh how I WISH I could find a hair ornament artist who worked with faceted gemstones! I wear and appreciate my cabbed stone forks etc, but would dearly love a more sparkly version.

I also like quite robust tines, so some of the antique silver ones are just not going to be practical for me. Is there a way to weld/attach gold (decoration) onto stainless (the actual prong/fork)?? I continue to dream...

 

[vintagelover229]

I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one interested in these!

I've looked on and off for YEARS and have had some luck on eBay and have found this site

http://www.blueheronwoods.com/SterlingSilverHairSticks-c-29.html


They have some but not tons-but almost every vintage piece on eBay I've been priced out of. I've noticed quite a bit of Asian (birds/jade/etc) themed ones-it appears they used a lot of wood/silver for combs to tuck their fine hair and thry are beautiful.

For myself though I'm not very good with my hair. It's actually quite long-past my shoulder blades but it's usually in a pony tail or more often twisted back and clipped up so when I wear it down people are really surprised at the length of it.

I still love to look though but there are to many other things on my list do unless it's a gift I probably won't be buying in the near future

 

[Laughinggravy0]

Circe waist length hair, that's lovely. Mine's only shoulder length and this is something I've been looking for for ages. I had a nice semi precious cab set on two long prongs in the hope I could use it to hold a twist. But the work was done long distance and the prongs not long enough. Works great to hold a wrap around jumper, but not hair.

It is a pain. I'd love a simple, understated but slightly shiny hair clip. First world problems - hey

 

[mrs taylor]

I have a few lovely pieces, nothing SUPER high end, but hand painted enamel with semi precious gems. they destroy my hair. I love them, but yikes. I also have some combs that are gorgeous, but I tear hair out each time I use them. I have super fine/thin hair so that just won't do.

Now I stick to really well made wooden ornaments for the most part in order to preserve my hair. If someone could make something decadent that was TOTALLY safe, I'd be all over it.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

I love this idea! If I was fancy enough to have an updo everyday I would totally do this! I had an antique pearl necklace sewn into my hair when I got married and it was still my favorite look to this day!

 

[mrs taylor]

see, I do updo's every day because I can't stand having my hair down! I also sew ribbons and things into it just because it's more comfortable than having pins. lol. I'm not particularly fancy...I just can't deal with the sensation of hair on my neck and bobby pins HURT! So I look fancier than I am as a result.

 

[iLander]

The only thing I have is large Navaho pony tail holder; flat thing with two holes, stick slides behind it. It's silver with a great turquoise piece in it, signed.

And I never use it.

My hair is very slick, and everything just slides out of it. It's a shame.

I think you should have something made, or just have some pins converted. Or just wrap some wire around the pin part of a pin, and wrap it onto a bobby pin. Temporary trial, see if you like it.

Actually, I think I'll give it a try myself, see if it stays in.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Oh how I WISH I could find a hair ornament artist who worked with faceted gemstones! I wear and appreciate my cabbed stone forks etc, but would dearly love a more sparkly version.

I also like quite robust tines, so some of the antique silver ones are just not going to be practical for me. Is there a way to weld/attach gold (decoration) onto stainless (the actual prong/fork)?? I continue to dream...

Yes, it is possible to solder gold and silver onto some steel. The decorations can also be riveted, tabbed, set or fixed with a number of cold connections.

 

[iLander]

I thought this would be an amazing barrette, and for under $2K, that's a lot of diamonds.

Here's the link to Xidni; http://www.etsy.com/listing/58970073/18k-gold-dragonfly-brooch I'll bet he can solder on a hair pin.

He's working on a tiny dragonfly pendant for me now (not this glorious thing), and he seems very nice, very responsive. Everything is made to order, custom enamel colors, etc. I'll let you know how my tiny one comes out, cross your fingers.