It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since the Festival of Fifty!
So much has happened in the intervening 12 months and if I’m honest, I’d have to say it hasn’t been the easiest year of my life. But that’s what living is about, right? It’s hard to appreciate how gloriously good life is most of the time, if there aren’t a few bumpy bits along the way.
One of the highlights over the past year has been my growing fossil collection, as I steadily raid (as time and cashflow permit) the amazing vaults of my mate Tom at the Living Fossil Gallery. I recently purchased a small selection of 110 million year old ammonite halves. They’re relatively inexpensive, with each pair costing between $20 – $30 depending on size…
Last year I also discovered a passion for steampunk jewellery! It’s funny how our tastes evolve and change with age. I was surprised by how instantaneous the attraction was – I was casually strolling past the Time Flies Designs stall at Paddington Markets and came to a dead halt, leaving half an hour later with this exquisite pendant for Pete’s birthday. It’s meticulously crafted from two upcycled 1886 pocket watches…
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A few weeks ago, I had the brilliant idea (even if I do say so myself) of adding steampunk elements to my ammonites. To me, the swirl and shape of the fossils offered a perfect compliment to the curvy watch mechanisms of old.
I chose three ammonite halves and commissioned Juan and Olivia of Times Flies Designs to create bespoke pendants for me. They’d never made anything like this before, so it was quite a challenge for them, both in terms of design and execution. I asked for three different looks, but was happy to leave the actual layout to them. Unlike other designers, Juan doesn’t just glue his parts on with epoxy resin – each piece is carefully drilled and screwed into place.
And oh, how they excelled themselves! When I picked the pendants up last weekend, I nearly wept with joy at how gorgeous they were. Pete decided to make them his birthday gift to me, and I haven’t been able to stop staring at them. Wherever possible, Juan will add movement to his creations, so each of my three pieces have cogs that turn and wheels that spin.
This Madagascan Lytoceras ammonite (formed during the Cretaceous period) is enhanced with parts from a 1904 Elgin pocket watch. The wee flower wheel at the base spins, and the needle moves from left to right, shifting the attached gears accordingly. It tickles my fancy that the 110 million year old fossil has a 110 year old watch part attached to it…
It’s hard to capture in a photo, but the stones have a polished reflective shine to them (you can see a glimpse of it in the first pic)…
This particular ammonite is also partially translucent…
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Another Lytoceras, this one assembled under Olivia’s careful designer’s eye. The large silver piece holds in place a spinning brass balance wheel at the centre of the stone…
Big Boy and Pete love this one – the great affinity between the natural colour and shape of the fossil and Olivia’s design appeals to their engineering sensibilities…
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Finally, possibly my favourite piece (although it’s very hard to choose), this Cleoniceras ammonite is a perfect match for the curvaceous vintage Longines mechanism that Juan chose. The large gear spins, as does the Elgin balance wheel in the centre. Each pendant hangs on a long stainless steel chain…
All the engravings are original to the pocket watches and refer to technical specifications such as the number of jewels used and lines of movement. So different to modern day watches which are basically just a small computer and a battery!
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As you can probably tell, I’m more than a little excited about these! It’s the first time in my life that I’ve ever commissioned jewellery (we even bought off the shelf engagement and wedding rings). Bring on 51, I’m ready!
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A big thank you to our friends Juan and Olivia of Times Flies Designs (Paddington Markets) who went way beyond what I expected to create these masterpieces! And to Tom of The Living Fossil Gallery (Mosman and the Rocks Markets) for always having the most brilliant treasures available at such reasonable prices! x
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Happy Birthday, dear Celia! I just turned 56 and the idea that I am now closer to 60 than to 50, I admit is not easy to swallow. But being happy has no age limits if we choose the right attitude, and of course a bit of luck is always involved – health issues can hit when we don’t expect them (knock on wood)
Thank you my darling friend! Yes, our birthdays are close, aren’t they! Happy belated birthday to you too! And please Sally, you don’t look 46, let alone 56! :)
What a beautiful post, Celia. I love the way these talented craftspeople have transformed your treasures. I have just one piece of steampunk jewellery, created by a local designer here in Brisbane, (seen in the post here: http://www.foodwinetravel.com.au/more/kindred-spirits/ ) and I love it! But yours are truly distinctive. Well deserved, I think, after a challenging year. Happy birthday!
Thanks lovely Chris! And I love your Kindred Spirits post, what glorious art they’ve created! Which piece did you buy in the end – the red necklace? It’s stunning!!
I had to read this post three times because my brain kept being stuptified with how insanely beautiful these are. Just lovely. And wishing you many happy returns of the day, my friend. Muwah! Maz.
Maz, I adore you, I KNEW you’d love these as much as I did. I know, right? They’re BONKERS beautiful. I’m SO chuffed with them!! xxx
Celia, they are lovely. Happy birthday BTW
Thanks darling! xxx
Stunning, simply stunning! A very happy birthday to you.
Laurie, thank you! I’m very very chuffed with them!
Love that word “chuffed.” It’s not a word we use here.
Happy Birthday Celia. Those ammonites make beautiful pendants. :-)
Thank you! I think so too! :)
Gorgeous. Happy birthday!
Thank you lovely.. xxx
Really really stunning and so unusual.
Cathy, thank you for saying that! I thought so too! :)
Happy Birthday Celia. That year flew. Gorgeous pendants. Such a great idea to combine two of your loves into unique stunning pieces. My 50th has now arrived this month. Looking forward to a week with close & extended family in lodges in the Lake District UK.
Oooh Kay, party hard! Happy big birthday to you!!! xxx
Will do. Thnx Celia xx
Happy Birthday, Celia. Once again you have left me gobsmacked with your wonderful photos of those extraordinary pendants! How I wish I were living back in Paddo/Darlinghurst and could browse Time Flys’ stall. Thank you for posting. Always a delight to open your blog.
Joanne, I’m so happy you like them too! You can have a look at Juan and Olivia’s other pieces on their website. http://www.timesflys.com
Absolutely stunning and so very unique and original. How clever of you to think of it and what talent your designer pals have to complete the commission. I’m sorry I missed your birthday but I’m sending you much love and a big belated birthday hug xx
Hello darling, you haven’t missed it yet, so thank you for your kind birthday wishes! I’ll whatsapp soon, lots to catch up on. Hope you and Big Man are traveling well!
Happy Birthday Celia! What wonderful gifts you have. What a brilliant idea to have the necklaces commissioned, a perfect way to display your fossils.
Thanks G! I did tell Pete that these were the only fossils I was allowed to make into jewellery. And that if he ever saw me with a giant rock hanging off my neck, it was time to stage an intervention..hahaha
Absolutely exquisite! Beautiful love filled happy birthday wishes dear Celia.
:-) Mandy xo
Thank you, lovely Mandy! xxx
Happy Birthday Celia, thanks for sharing the photos of your fossils and the brilliant pendants. They are beautiful
Mary, thank you! I’m deeply smitten with them! :)
The collection looks great. I’m heading to 50+1 this year too.
Gary, we’re both born in the year of the snake then! :) Happy 51 to you this year too! :)
Yes I’m a snake. I understand this won’t be our best year. I hope you have a Happy Birthday too.
Yes it will, Gary. Ignore the naysayers! :)
Such timeless pieces- remarkable, beautiful and so perfect for your birthday. Happy 51st Celia.
I’ve heard of Steampunk, and now I know what it is! Beautiful.
Happy birthday! I hope it’s the start of a more propitious year for you. Those steampunk pendants are fabulous, elegant and timeless in a more literal sense of the word than we usually see. I’m a great fan of steampunk myself, to the extent that I’ve devoted a Pinterest board to it, and these are exceptional examples.
Kate, Juan and Olivia do steampunk in the most elegant way. Their stuff is all beautiful! Always nice to meet a fellow fan of the genre! :)
I shall follow the link and investigate, thank you!
Oh they are beautiful Celia. Must admit I love the last two too! I have Dad’s old Railway watches….mmmmm! I have taken to Steampunk too and I am 62. Funny how we our perspective widens as we see more on this beautiful Earth. PS. I have my sour dough starter, so I’m off and running again. Many thanks Celia. Sending love your way. Marilyn
Wow – those are just amazing! Perfect examples of skill, craft(wo)manship and art. Very distinctive pieces indeed.
Gosh, they’re works of beautiful art. I’m sure there’s something profound in those in that the fossils bided their time and just became something else, old and beautiful, and the insertion of pieces from a ‘time piece’ which marks the passing of time. So – if we live long enough to be called fossils – that wouldn’t be too bad! Happy Birthday, Celia:)
A happy belated birthday to you Celia and may the year to come bring far more plusses than minuses! These must be the most original pieces I have ever seen and mindbendingly beautiful: no wonder you are getting so much pleasure from them. Am leaving the post for an evening treat to wander up and down the column deciding on my favourite :) ! [Must say I am just a tad amused at you and Sally ‘comparing’ ages in your fifties!! Hmmm . . . ]
Good God. How extraordinary. I am deeply impressed this is stunning work.. c
Happy Birthday! These pieces are just so unique, you definitely have an eye for the extrordinary!
Wow! You’re onto something there, Celia! Exquisite pieces! Happy birthday! hope the year ahead is a much better and brighter one for you.
Gosh I can’t believe it’s been a year. Wow! I think there’s something quite poetic about your fossils and the timepieces being melded together. For some reason I think Dr Who would approve. Happy Birthday Celia x
Gorgeous, just gorgeous. They are so YOU! Happy birthday lovely lady x
Happy Birthday Celia and wow they are amazing….my daughter would love one of them you really have an artists eye :)
Best wishes on your birthday, Celia. <3
What stunning pieces! A very Happy Birthday to you, my sourdough guru xx
Happy Birthday, Celia! You friends may have created these gorgeous pieces but it was your idea to merge your 2 interests. How very creative of you, Celia, and how lucky you are to have found such talented people to use your ideas to create such stunning pieces.
Happy birthday! I love the additions of the antique watch pieces and your fossils, so beautiful.
Happy birthday – I hope the coming year is better for you!
I just love your ammonite jewellery – it was a brilliant leap of the imagination to put ammonites and steampunk together, but it works so well!
Bonkers beautiful indeed – and I can’t think of a better person to wear them. I hope you have/had a wonderful birthday and wish you an excellent year to come.
I love them all but I love Elgin the best, perhaps it’s the translucence of some of the ammonite itself combined with the watch parts, but I suspect it’s the shapes of and engraving on the watch parts themselves. STUNNING gorgeous!
Your cleverness never ceases to amaze me, love.
Agree, they are absolutely beautiful and so unique! What a wonderful combination. Lucky you!
These are just fabulous Celia! What a perfect marriage of components! And happy birthday!