“Gold Card Visa” bracelet is constructed from recycled tin cans as a social and political commentary about the immigration crisis in the United States.

This bracelet will be shown at SCHMUCKmünchen 2026

Bracelet fabricated from recycled tin containers. Brass escutcheon pins, brass screws, and nuts.
Display stand is constructed from brass. The vertical bars are recycled tin cans that were black on one side and metallic brass color on the inside of the tubes.

Date: 2025

12” height x 13” width   x 2.5“ depth
Bracelet weight: 1 pound                          

 

Look for my name and hallmark

My hallmark (a domestic iron) is stamped into the metal along with my name, and 2025.

 

Materials for “Gold Card Visa” bracelet

tin can bottom being made into a bracelet. it is the ingreidients in different languages as a metaphor for the immigrants from all over the world that come to the United States. Gold metallic tin cans. ns

This bracelet is constructed with post-consumer tin cans.
These humble materials have no intrinsic value, but the commentary in this jewelry reflects the hypocrisies of our time. The bracelets in the "Fool's Gold Collection" are carefully constructed with elaborate detail, but deliberately left open to metaphorically expose the ugly inner truth.

If you look at the surface of this tin can (in the photo above,) you can see that it has the ingredients in multiple languages. Immigrants are the ingredients that make America great."Gold Card Visa" protests the high cost of United States visas, turning citizenship into a luxury commodity while deporting hard-working immigrants.

With this symbolic jewelry, I protest! Every member of my family came to the United States as immigrants, whether it was 200 years ago or 100 years ago. How can America change this much? How can America not understand that immigration is our strength?

 

Display stand for “Gold Card Visa‘ bracelet

Display stand for the Gold Card Visa bracelet. This is the side with the black bars to resemble prison bars, and the border wall between the United State and Mexico
Display stand for Gold Card Visa bracelet is constructed from polished brass and recycled tin cans. This is the metallic gold side of the bars. Si

This is the display stand for Gold Card Visa bracelet. The bars on the stand are black on the back to resemble prison bars (i.e.the imprisoning of illegal immigrants) and the border wall between the United States and Mexico. The black bars go against the back of the bracelet.

The metallic gold side of the bars shows through the wrist hole of the bracelet.

The display stand dissembles for safe and easy transport. Each bar slides on to assemble or slides off easily to dissemble.

 

Fabrication innovations for “Gold Card Visa” bracelet


The fabrication images below are not intended to be a tutorial, but to provide insight into the fabrication for “Gold Card Visa” bracelet. The fabrication of this bracelet required innovation, and new fabrication methods, even though I have been working with recycled tin cans for 38 years and have an extensive academic background and metalsmithing skills.

In this fabrication photos you will see lots of towels, masking tape, post-it notes and scotch tape. Working with tin cans means that the surface can not be scratched or damaged. Extreme care is taken with every step. Most of the time, I only have one piece of a tin can to use. I never paint the tin cans. I use them as they are.

Thanks to my studio assistant Alpa Sheth….this bracelet was finished. It took a tremendous amount of time and two people to get this done.

 

Packing, Shipping, and Display Instructions for ““Gold Card Visa” bracelet

Every exhibition piece has a custom made storage/ shipping box so it can travel to the exhibition without difficulty. Below are a few images. This custom made storage/shipping box will ship in a larger shipping box surrounded by packing peanuts or bubble wrap with at least a two inch gap between the inner and outer shipping box.


Additional Work in the Fool’s Gold Filt Collection:

24 K Corruption and White House Oval Office Exposed Bracelets

24 K Corruption and White House Oval Office Exposed Bracelet from metallic tin cans.

These two bracelets (shown above) are from the Fool’s Gold Gilt Collection. 24K Corruption (photo left) and White House Oval Office Exposed (photo right.)

 
Harriete Estel Berman working on the Gold Gilt Collection “We Need a Bigger Whistle” work in progress from metallic gold tin cans.’

Artist Harriete Estel Berman working on her “We Need a Bigger Whistle” from the Fool’s Gold Gilt Collection.

It is taking longer than expected…but it will be done soon. Life keeps getting in the way.

bracelet from recycled tin cans “Make America Healthy Again” from metallic tin cans.

Bracelet in progress from the Fool’s Gold Gilt Collection.

This is almost done too. A little more refinement….but like everything else, it is following the 80/20 rule. 80% of the work went quickly and the last 20% is taking a very long time to get this right. I usually work on several things at a time.