RESERVED French Ruler Upcycled Earrings

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Regular price: Sold out
Sale price: $58.00

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I’ve had a long fascination with these folding rulers. I think partly I just admire the smart, elegant design solution, but I also remember playing around with the one my grandfather had. I loved the numbers and the feel of how the sections snapped into place. I used to make it into big geometric shapes and zigzags. I just found it so intriguing. (Clearly I grew up pre-internet!!)

Gramps was a carpenter, so probably had several, but I do recall a day where he snagged one from me on his way out to a job site. He wasn’t mad at me, but made it clear that this was one of his most important tools and it should stay in his toolbox. It wasn’t until years later when I heard “Measure twice, cut once.” that I thought of this moment again.

When I was in France last year, of course I found the thrift and reuse shops. This vintage metal folding ruler was one of my finds and has been sitting unused in my studio for far too long. I made some super fun spinny X earrings and a necklace, but my original intention when cutting up the ruler was to make these simple industrial earrings. (l still get lost playing around with rulers!)

I have lots of this material now, so if you want specific numbers on your particular pair, just email me.

The length of ruler is drilled and riveted to a length of waxed steel wire and a surgical stainless steel ear wire finishes the look. The finished earrings are approximately .5" (14mm) wide and hang about 2.75" (58mm) from the ear.

Each piece of metal comes to me having lived a previous life--in some cases multiple lives! It is not unusual for the material to sometimes have scuffs, scratches, faded portions, and general wear and tear. If a flawless finish is important to you, please zoom in to the pictures here to look for imperfections that might be distracting for you.

All adaptive reuse pieces come to you neatly displayed on an upcycled card and sustainably wrapped ready for gift-giving.

Please contact me if you have any other questions.

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I’ve recently partnered with the non-profit One Tree Planted. $1 from your order today will plant a tree somewhere on the globe.