Should I Shorten My 5-Motif Vintage Alhambra Bracelet

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SmokieDragon

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Mar 9, 2015
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Hi, everyone! I’m a newbie here. I just bought a Blue Agate 5-motif Vintage Alhambra bracelet. My wrist size is 14.5 cm and this is how the bracelet looks on me. My SA said that in future, I can buy a MOP Vintage bracelet and combine them to make a necklace. Just realised if I shorten the bracelet, I won’t be able to do that unless I have a chain extender. So my question is, should I shorten my bracelet? I have 3 months to decide. Thanks in advance!
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Do you like wearing your bracelet this far up your arm? When you shorten your bracelet they do give you the links that were removed which you keep in case you want to add them back again. As for adding a bracelet to a 10 or 20 motif, I found out that I am happy to add a bracelet in onto a 20 motif ( I’m 159cm). I find a 10 motif + 5 motif too short for my liking but obviously this preference is highly personal.
Just saw your update, I’m not too comfortable with a free hanging charm; banging into it and scratching may be a concern. Btw your bracelet is gorgeous!!!
 
I have the hammered gold so I thought I could leave a dangling motif and even if it got banged around, gold would be durable. 2 weeks later, I ended up getting it shortened simply because I got soooooo frustrated every time when I try to take it off (not that bad putting it on) - to the point of driving myself crazy and stopped wearing it lol
 
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Do you like wearing your bracelet this far up your arm? When you shorten your bracelet they do give you the links that were removed which you keep in case you want to add them back again. As for adding a bracelet to a 10 or 20 motif, I found out that I am happy to add a bracelet in onto a 20 motif ( I’m 159cm). I find a 10 motif + 5 motif too short for my liking but obviously this preference is highly personal.
Just saw your update, I’m not too comfortable with a free hanging charm; banging into it and scratching may be a concern. Btw your bracelet is gorgeous!!!

Thanks so much! My SA did recommend taking the Blue Agate compared to the MOP because she said the colour is rich. Blue is my favourite colour so I was so surprised to discover such a lovely shade of blue in the form of Blue Agate and was even more surprised when I discovered it's translucent. Such an eye opener for me in terms of the stone :D

I did feel that with my bracelet so far up my arm, it was a little dicey especially since I like leaning against the edges of my table in the office. So I found that I had to be very careful and couldn't be carefree at my desk. You are right about the free hanging charm - it can be damaging.

I'm a little shorter than you at 156cm. I was thinking of combining a 5-motif MOP with this 5-motif Blue Agate. Now that you have shared your experience, I think that combining 2 5-motifs would be too short. The combined length on paper is 38cm but it would feel shorter due to the relatively big Vintage motif. I have a thin neck but not that thin, LOL!

Looks like at this stage, shortening is the answer :D As to how much, hmmm, have to think about this
 
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I have the hammered gold so I thought I could leave a dangling motif and even if it got banged around, gold would be durable. 2 weeks later, I ended up getting it shortened simply because I got soooooo frustrated every time when I try to take it off (not that bad putting it on) - to the point of driving myself crazy and stopped wearing it lol

You are better than me - I couldn't even put it on with the dangling motif, LOL! Not easy at all. Looks like I am going down the shortening route :D Thanks so much!
 
I'd recommend one double-link being removed between each clover. That way you will have an even amount of spacing between each one. Or you could have 6 removed which might fit you better, but you'll have an unequal distance between the motifs (one link taken out between two motifs and two links taken out between two motifs).
 
Hey @SmokieDragon check out this thread below if you haven’t already. It has lots of pics and measurements and discussion about shortening options. Hope it helps.

 
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