Queen Mary purchased this bangle from Madame Rachel Boyer, the founder of the French charitable fund, L'Union des Arts. The bangle is made out of the copper drive band from a 75mm artillery shell.

L'Union des Arts was founded before the war as a fund for poor artists, actors and writers. At the outbreak of the war, the organisation shifted its attention to the war effort, establishing soup kitchens and workshops across Paris. As the war progressed, funding in France became more difficult to obtain so an outpost for the organisation was set up in America. Money was raised by selling trinkets such as this bracelet and also by organising ticketed entertainments.