Golden gingerbread man keychain

Clear stones over warm gold-tone metal

The subject reads instantly: round head, arms out, legs apart, the shape of a Christmas biscuit. Stones run from the crown of the head down to the feet, taking in both outstretched arms, and the metal between them is not silver-white but a warm gold, which gives the sparkle a softer tone than you might expect from a stone-set piece. Three darker round stones sit in a line down the chest and stand in for buttons. Only the rim is left plain and polished, and that thin border is what keeps the figure easy to pick out on a crowded key ring.

Enamel takes over where the stones stop

The face is built from a handful of enamel marks rather than from stones. Two small turquoise strokes serve as eyebrows, set above two round black eyes, and the mouth below them is a single curved red line. The green enamel bow tie sits just under the chin. None of the enamel catches the light, which is exactly why the expression stays legible against so much glitter.

Four short strokes for the icing

One detail is easy to miss at thumbnail size, and it is the one that makes the biscuit: four short wavy black strokes, two across the wrists and two across the ankles. They cut across the figure instead of following its outline, in the same way icing is piped onto a real gingerbread man. Nothing else on the front is painted.

Size and fittings of this gold-tone gingerbread man keychain

The swivel is the small pivoting link between the figure and the clasp, and it earns its place: the biscuit can spin all day without putting a twist into the fitting. The clasp opens on a spring, so the charm moves from keys to a bag handle or a zip pull in seconds, and the split ring takes the keys themselves.

What the plain back is for

Turned over, the charm loses its sparkle entirely. The back is bare gold-tone metal, dotted with the hollow cups that grip each stone from behind, and it is the face built to take the wear. Hung from a handle, the figure naturally swings that side against the leather and keeps the stones out of harm's way. Dust is the real nuisance with a setting this dense: it settles in the gaps around the claws, where a cloth simply passes over the top. A clean, dry make-up brush clears it in a couple of passes. Keep perfume and household sprays off the enamel, and unclip the charm before the keys go down next to a sink. If you like this much stonework, other stone-set figures we stock sit on the same shelf.