One of the other surprises of the pocket watch haul was that a few of them
still have their crystals intact. All of the cases I’d come across before either never had crystals or they did they had been long lost. Having intact crystals meant that I had the option of creating the collages and knowing that the items added would be protected, even if the pieces were worn. It gave me a bit more freedom in the designs. It also meant that I could go with a more graphic style, since I wanted the finished effect to be readable a bit farther back. I decided to base the first couple on some themes I’m still exploring. I started with an antique image of the world. It was then delicately tinted with watercolours. The round shape of the world made it easy to place a pair of antique hands on it in the near-midnight position . It was then stamped with “In our hands” and a small, white dove was attached in the upper right corner. (it was just the right size to fit the case) This was the chunkiest of the recent case pieces, so it would be a bit heavy as a pendant, but still wearable. The other drawback was that it is heavily worn. I love how the case itself looks, but the crystal is rough and it partially obscures the design, when it’s closed.