My Mathematical Jewellery Collection

Today I'm going to a barbecue hosted by one of my colleagues. The theme is maths. We will be doing maths puzzles and games, and there is a prize for the most mathematical outfit. On reading this I exclaimed "What shall I wear?!" Not, as you might think, because I don't own any mathematical clothing. In fact it was because I own so much, that choosing was going to be difficult.

Two of my absolute favourite things in the world are maths and fashion. When you combine the two, you get mathematical fashion. And I LOVE it. I have a few mathsy clothing items, but I'm not going to show you those in this post. This post is dedicated to perhaps my favourite aspect of fashion: jewellery.

At my academy I'm known by both staff and students for having a massive collection of bold and bright rings and necklaces. A subset of this collection I will be showing to you today.

First up, my absolutely amazing, custom-made SOHCAHTOA necklace;

I bought this necklace from one of my favourite jewellery shops, Tatty Devine. As well as stocking quirky and unique perspex jewellery, they make name necklaces (like Carrie's from SATC). Seeing this feature gave me the genius idea of turning my favourite maths word into a necklace. I thought long and hard about what word (containing nine letters or fewer) to choose. I settled on SOHCAHTOA because it's so recognisable, not to mention useful. I've had several strangers see it and proudly exclain "I remember that! It means..." which is so nice to hear!

I think my favourite thing about this necklace is my students' reactions when I tell them I had it custom-made. I think to them it just confirms my status as geekiest teacher ever.

Onto my next necklace: The Infinity necklace:

I bought this necklace on Amazon after a lot of searching. I had decided I wanted a necklace in the shape of the infinity symbol, and then set about trying to find one, which is the complete opposite of how I normally shop, where I see something I never knew I wanted and then buy it immediately. This necklace is sterling silver and contains an actual real diamond, which sadly my poor eyesight inhibits me from seeing. Amazon assures me it is there, though.

Necklace number three: the Rubik's Cube:

Everyone loves my Rubik's cube necklace. I have been nearly strangled countless times as students grab it as  I walk away. Nobody can resist turning it a bit, which is why it is a jumbled mess. I am actually rubbish at solving them, although I keep telling myself I will learn the algorithms soon. My friend Emma appeared to learn overnight when she got one for her birthday, but knowing her she probably spent hours and hours learning it obsessively.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you where this amazing necklace is from! I got it from Folksy, a brilliant website where random people sell all kinds of handmade and vintage stuff. I have bought so many things from there. The necklace was from a seller called Mary Quite Contrary.


And now, a bracelet:

I bought this bracelet quite recently from Folksy, from a seller called I heart my art. It was the only one of its kind, which makes me feel special. Check out her other items though. I like how the bracelet contains "e" because most of my students don't know about the exponential constant, so they'll ask questions about it. Any excuse to talk about e and logs! Although I bet most of them just assume it stands for Emma.

Next, my Origami necklace:

Boy was this hard to photograph! This little stunner really is origami: it was made from a single square of silver and folded into the iconic crane. I saw a very similar necklace on Anthropologie, one of the most beautiful shops in the world, but it cost way too much so I went looking elsewhere. I found this on Etsy, which is basically the American version of Folksy. I bought it from the hugely talented AllegroArts who handmakes all of these stunning origami pieces. This exact necklace can be found here.

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So that's my mathematical jewellery collection as it stands at the time of writing. I fully expect it to be twice the size this time next year!

I will leave you with one last photo: a little cutie I just had to buy from Ryman's as I was picking up my back-to-school stationery:

I just can't resist cute geekiness.

Emma x x x