Customer of the Day: Karen D. and Her Bat Necklace

My high-school classmate Karen D. was kind enough to share photos of her 1980s Jim Morrison and Madonna jackets with us in May.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE JACKETS.

Now she’s sharing her thoughts about bats — but not the kind of bat that Carrie Underwood introduces to a pretty little souped-up four-wheel drive in the song “Before He Cheats.”

Karen prefers this type of bat.

Photo by Karen D.

Karen says:

“My love of bats started many years ago. Bats are mysterious creatures, nocturnal like myself. They are the epitome of gothic beauty,often portrayed soaring across a moonlit sky in search of prey. Unfortunately, bats are often misunderstood. Often considered dangerous pests, bats have unfairly acquired this reputation. What most people don’t realize is that bats play a vital role in the ecological system, controlling the insect population and acting as pollinators. Having spent most of my life feeling misunderstood, it was only natural that I would identity with these fascinating creatures of the night.”

Why were we discussing bats? Because Karen purchased my sterling-silver bat necklace.

Normally $450. On sale for $150. Click to purchase.

Here’s the bat on Karen.

I always ask the bat purchasers why they go for the bats. Inquiring minds want to know! Some of the buyers are Batman fans rather than bat fans; as you can see in my website photo, the little bat’s face is rather human-like. I intended the bat to have a natural bat-like face so when I first saw the finished product, I thought, “OMG! I have to melt it down and start again.” But then I took another look and decided the face was cute and highlarious. Sometimes it goes like that with jewelry design. “Mistakes” turn out to be happy surprises. I figure I was right to stick with the original look when a bat-fan like Karen writes, “I love it … such an amazing piece! Love the detail on the face.”

Karen also loved having bats fly in circles around her at a zoo outside London a couple of years ago. That’s where she took this photo.

Photo by Karen D.

While I agree with Karen that bats are helpful and even beautiful critters, I can’t say I’d want them to be flying in circles around me. There’s a myth that bats will entangle themselves in women’s hair. I figured out how that rumor got started when I was in high school. One summer, at dusk, I stepped out of my parents’ New Jersey home at dusk to walk the dog. In that instant, a bat swooped down so close to my head that its wings ruffled my hair. I turned on my heel, went back in the house and gave a little scream only after I was completely safe from batty would-be hairstylists. No offense intended to the bat community; I just hate it when strangers touch my hair.

That experience didn’t prevent me from enjoying this photo from Karen’s zoo trip …

“So what are we doing today?” “Oh, just hanging around.” “Okay.”

… especially because it reminds me of the time Peter Griffin went to the bat cave on Family Guy.

Click to watch the clip.

Enjoy your necklace, Karen! For you other bat or Batman fans, I have some more silver necklaces, silver cufflinks, a super-special-luxury silver-and-agate necklace and an 18K-gold necklace. I also have a pair of silver bat earrings that isn’t on my site. If you’re interested in those, holla at me at wbjewelry at hotmail dot com and I’ll give you more information about how to get those bats in your belfry!

UPDATED TO ADD: Karen read the post and realized she had a little more information for me. She said:

“The bat has become my signature piece. I own at least 15 bat necklaces, wearing a different one each day (wearing my ‘going out’ bat in my [Facebook] profile pic) But not anymore … this one has taken the top spot! I have seen many ‘sleeping’ bat necklaces, but none of them are unique as this one.”

Well! I couldn’t be happier! I feel this is the ultimate compliment from a bat lover. Yay!