KJL Rare Pair of 'Puzzle Bangles' — Yes, They Are!

Jewelry : Collectible : Costume : Vintage : Kjl : Kenneth Jay Lane

$245 USD
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The answer: a pair of sleek, two-tone modernist bracelets, a very clever, very early creation by Kenneth Jay Lane!

These two puzzle bangles are a delightful optical illusion, if you will, and reminiscent of M. C. Escher's impossible, paradoxical drawings.

Except, unlike Escher's, our bracelets do come together — not just one way, but several ways, depending on how you mix the goldtone and silvertone pieces. And whether you want to wear each bracelet solo, or stacked.

These puzzle bracelets are very rare, and are from KJL's most highly collectible period, the '60s, when he began designing jewelry. They once belonged to one of his earliest fan, D. D. Ryan, a famous Manhattan socialite and former Harper's Bazaar editor. Ryan is mentioned by KJL in his autobiographical book, "Faking It", as among "one of the first" who patronized his jewelry. I had three of these (I sold the other one, but decided to keep these two as a pair). I tried, but could not find anything similar anywhere; I doubt there's many of these out there left.

Each bangle consists of two big hallow arches, one in each color. The arches look like thick rigid rubber bands that have been curved. Each slips into the other, right about in the center portion. Pull the centers apart and — voila! — you have a bracelet. I have captured each stage in this amazing transformation from puzzle pieces to bracelet for you. Hope you like it!

While photographing the bangles, I also discovered that you can opt to put the silvertone arcs together and the goldtone arcs together and come out with two solid colored bangles. Really neat!

Put together, each bracelet has a girth of about 8 1/4" and is about 3/4" wide.

Each of the pieces in stamped K.J.L. The bracelet has the normal scuffs from wear, but is still in very good to excellent condition. Very minor loss of color on the goldtone pieces; mostly, the colors are not worn.

If you're looking for something totally out-of-the-box gorgeous, here it is. It's like an entire accessory wardrobe — just think of the possibilities!

Item ID: 0408-KJL8