Medical id bracelet

Jewelry Discussion
1

I have been asked to make a child’s medical id bracelet. It all seems
pretty straight forward, except for the medical symbol of the
intertwining snakes. any ideas how I can put this on the bracelet?
any stamp of this? charm that could be soldered on? I have found
nothing that looks like it would work. Any ideas? -thanks Lori

2

Hi Lori, Stuller has a pendant that you might be able to use, it is
enameled so you may have to rivet it? It’s item # 1261 in the little
chubby catalogue.

Marta

3

Lori, I made a special medical I.D. bracelet for a customer and I
found a watch tag in the Rio Grande catalog that I cut out and
attached to the bracelet. It worked great.

Deb Karash

4

Well, you could try the MedicAlert agency…perhaps they could help
you? Another idea is going to a hospital or doctor’s office, and
getting a 2D pattern from that. good luck, erhard.

5

The best way to make an id bracelet is to contract out someone who is
using a cad/cam machine. This can be done rather easliy. Let me know
if I can help castgold@hotmail.com cad/cam designer/goldsmith-Berrys
Jewelry Co. Nashville,Tn

6

Sounds like a Medic Alert bracelet. So you might check with them –
although I think theirs are probably aluminum, and probably cast. Or
check with your Doctor – I think that is the same symbol you often
find on their car licenses, etc. Maybe there’s some outfit that sells
little pins, or cigarette lighters, etc with that symbol on it.

margaret

7

Lori, There is a company in New York City called Milson’s,
1-800-645-7667. They have 14K gold charms that could be soldered on.
The smallest one is about 9mm high, suitable for a child’s size
bracelet. It is one page 135 of their current catalog, item # CAC379.
You might also find it on their web site,
http://www.lixpress.com/milsons.htm

Joel Schwalb
@Joel_Schwalb
www.schwalbstudio.com

8

I have made these before and I have gone to a hand engraver to have
the design engraved in the piece and then blackened it with a coating
for gold. You can’t solder a charm on as it will not be immediately
recognized as a medical id bracelet. The hospital staff need to be
able to see the design immediately and clearly. The most interesting
one I made had links with bezel set tourmalines in it around the back
but the piece with the recognizable shape (also important) and symbol
took up about 40% of the bracelet.

Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Spirer Somes Jewelers
@spirersomes
www.spirersomes.com

9

Lori, I’m sure you could find a charm to solder on, though I can’t
recommend where to find one. You could also make one with PMC, etch
the design into the silver using ferric nitrate, cut the design from
thin gauge silver sheet and chase the details, or you could probably
make one from silver wire and doing a little forging (hammering) to
flatten the wire. I’d either make one from wire or etch it.

What you are looking for is called the Staff of Aesculapius; it is a
single snake twined around a staff. This has evidently been confused
with the Caduceus, two snakes twined around a winged staff; the
confusion dates back to the times of Henry VII.

You can follow this link to find out moRe:

http://www.msms.org/pubsandnews/MichMed/98/02/2_98vie.htm

Searching with Google will probably result in many suitable pictures
of the symbol.

Christine in sunny and springy Littleton, Massachusetts US

10

Have you considered etching the symbol? Use a good grade of
resist, and acid (I use Nitric) for silver. Just use a sharp pointed
tool to scratch the symbol through the resist. Or, you could go
higher tech, and photocopy the symbol and use the PNP method
described in numerous lists which you can check out in the
archives.

Alma