Feast your eyes on this gorgeous necklace designed and assembled by my husband, John.

Portrait by Rusty Dyer, Digidyer Productions

The story is that over the past several years, I received as gifts from John and Amy, my daughter, a few vintage fitted boxes of Rochambeau buttons, each with a set of 6 or so buttons of two sizes. I set them aside since they represent the hero of my book and the bicentennial of the battle of Yorktown. The buttons were made in Waterbury, CT, close to home.

Then last summer I got them out and said to John,”I would love to have a necklace fashioned of these buttons, but how?” I went to a jeweler who told me it would cost me well over one thousand to have them made up with gold chains etc. I said “No thanks”. I returned home with them. When John had time we found some gold parts ourselves. In a matter of hours, he put it together like the real ‘Can Do’ Sea Bee that he is. Et voila! I plan to wear it to a fancy dress 18th-century ball or maybe the grocery store.