The character of Desdemona had been drifting through my head for a while. Verdi’s Otello was a Live in HD performance a couple of years ago featuring Renee Fleming and Johan Botha. But, no one really asked for an Otello Bracelet and I let the idea for one drift off.

Maybe, it was such an intense opera that I needed time to process exactly what I wanted a bracelet to be like. The gorgeous love duet is beautiful in its own right. The Willow Song so famous in both Shakespeare and Verdi could have its own bracelet, really.

For years, I would come across this gorgeous hand painted strawberry charm and think “AHA! Desdemona”. I was thinking of the handkerchief, embroidered with strawberries, that is stolen by Iago and planted in Cassio’s abode to implicate the innocent Desdemona. So, that element was predestined to be part of the bracelet from long ago. Of course while it turnsout to be a dark opera, it starts out with love, so a heart charm was important too.

Now, a third charm. Well you know what you think of as soon as you hear the words Otello or Desdemona: “O, salce, salce, salce…” C’mon you are tearing up just thinking about it. So, I needed a leaf to represent the Willow Song.

Before long, it was clear that the bracelet represented Desdemona and that would be its name. I became hung up on that moment that catches your breath when Desdemona, foreseeing her violent tragic fate asks that her wedding gown be laid out for her to be buried in. Creamy white beads reflect this garment and her innocence. Black beads are her death.

A while back on a bead buying trip, I picked up these huge bags of clear glass teardrops and hearts not knowing where they would be used. Now they seem positively made to indicate the dual themes of Love and tragedy that form the plot of Otello.

I am pleased to present to you the Desdemona Bracelet: