Just Picked

Life is just a bowl of cherries
Don't take it serious,
Life's too mysterious.
You work,
You save,
You worry so,
But you can't take your dough
When you go, go, go

-Bob Fosse

I started collecting vintage Japanned cherry pins due to my love of rich red and emerald green rhinestones. The term "Japanned" refers to the lustrous black lacquer used for the settings. To me, the rich black metal cradles the stones in a much more dramatic setting than the common gold or silver tone settings used today.

I have found it difficult to acquire rhinestone cherries in this setting. They seem to be especially collectible, and often when I think I spy one in a jewelry case at an antique store or flea market, upon further inspection it is a strawberry. So, in addition to the two Japanned cherry pins I photographed here, I have a rare pink rhinestone cherry pin set in pink metal. I also have a faceted crystal cherry bracelet with green glass leaves, and a smaller rhinestone cherry pin set in a gold tone in my collection. One day, I hope to add some Bakelite (or more accurately Catalin) pieces to my collection. There are some precious cherry bracelets and necklaces that were all the rage in the 1940s and 50s.

One of my other favorite pins is a very large Japanned four leaf clover.

Photos and review by Melanie Parker