Abrasion resistant omnidirectionally reflective jewelry

A reflective jewelry piece, comprising:

• a. a central cylindrical braided rope core operable to sustain substantial tensile forces;
• b. a cylindrical reflective braided sleeve comprising three or more narrow width reflective strips that are braided at a shallow cylindrical braid angle, said cylindrical reflective braided sleeve being operable to surround said central cylindrical braided rope core thereby providing omnidirectional reflectivity;
• c. said narrow width reflective strips comprising a woven or knitted narrow width strip and a flexible nylon retroreflective sheet sown thereon, said woven or knitted narrow width strip having a show surface, said flexible retroreflective nylon sheet comprising a flexible retroreflective sheet thermally bonded onto a nylon mesh strip, said nylon mesh strip being sown onto said show surface of said narrow width reflective strip;
• d. said flexible retroreflective sheet having retroreflectors bonded thereto with a transparent bond layer;
• and
• e. said jewelry piece having a proximal end and a distal end, said proximal end having a female connector thereon and said distal end having a male connector thereon, said female connector being operable with said male connector to attach said jewelry piece onto a person so that said jewelry provides omnidirectional reflectivity.

A process for manufacture of a reflective jewelry piece, comprising the steps of:

• a. selecting a braided nylon or polypropylene cylindrical central rope, said cylindrical central rope having a proximal end, a distal end, and an external surface;
• b. attaching a female connector to said proximal end of said central rope;
• c. attaching a male connector to said distal end of said central rope, said female connector being operable with said male connector to attach said jewelry piece onto a person so that said jewelry provides omnidirectional reflectivity;
• d. selecting a flexible polymer sheet;
• e. coating said flexible polymer sheet with a plurality of retroreflectors using a transparent binder to form a retroreflector coated flexible polymer sheet;
• f. thermally bonding said retroreflector coated flexible polymer sheet to a nylon mesh strip to form a flexible nylon retroreflective sheet;
• g. sowing said flexible nylon retroreflective sheet to a narrow width reflective strip;
• h. braiding at least three of said narrow width reflective strips at a shallow cylindrical braid angle to form an omnidirectionally reflective sleeve having a braided construction;
• i. applying a transparent flexible polymeric abrasion resistant conformal coating to substantially cover said omnidirectionally reflective sleeve;
• and
• j. covering said external surface of said cylindrical central rope with said omnidirectionally reflective sleeve to provide said reflective jewelry piece with omnidirectional reflectivity;
• said omnidirectionally reflective jewelry piece being operable to sustain abrasion, substantial tensile forces, and to accommodate twist and flexure forces due to strength and movement afforded by said braided construction of said omnidirectionally reflective sleeve.