A thumb up through the cream ring, the star's points pressing both pages of an open paperback flat, in a reading chair

Swivel Thumb Page Holder Sparkle Star

A star that holds the book open, on a ring that turns any way your thumb does.

A ball, turning inside a star.

Four points, one ring.

4.2 × 2.1 × 0.4 in from tip to tip and 0.4 oz. Two gold facets, two orange, 3 white sparkles set flush in the face, and a cream ring in the middle.

Your thumb holds still. The star turns.

With your thumb through the ring, the star spins around it, so the wings can lie across the book at whatever angle the pages ask for.

The ring is a ball.

Cut in half, the ring's outside is a slice of a ball 29.2 mm across, sitting in a round socket 30.0 mm across, with 0.38 mm of air between them all the way round.

Narrow lips, captive ring.

The socket closes to 28.2 mm at both faces, narrower than the ball, so the ring tilts in place and cannot slip out of either side.

Every direction, all the way over.

Nothing on the frame reaches inside the ball's path, so the star tilts any way and can turn a full circle around the ring.

Across the gutter, wings on the pages.

Thumb through the ring, a point on each page: the book stays open in one hand and the other is free for the tea.

Up close

Small enough for a paperback, big enough for both pages.

4.2 × 2.1 × 0.4 in and 0.4 oz: light enough to ride on the pages of a paperback, and long enough from point to point to reach a page on each side of the gutter.

The star lying on a closed paperback on a cafe table beside a cup of coffee
Between chapters it rides on the cover, ready for the next page.
Close on the cream ring, tipped a little in the orange star, the low ribs lining its inside
16 low ribs line the inside of the ring, 0.83 in across.
The star from above: two gold facets, two orange, three white sparkles and the cream ring
Two gold facets, two orange, and 3 white sparkles set into the face.

Why it turns

A ball in a socket, cut in half.

A plain thumb holder has a fixed hole. This one has a ring whose outside is part of a ball, sitting in a socket shaped to match, so it moves the way your knuckle does.

Drag the slider to tilt the ring. The ball never meets the frame: the gap is the same 0.38 mm all round, and the lips at each face stay narrower than the ball at every angle.

ball 29.2 mm socket 30.0 mm lips 28.2 mm
Section through the ring and frame, drawn from the product's own model. Orange: the frame. Cream: the ring.
The star at an angle: orange sides, gold and orange facets and the cream ring sitting level in its socket
At rest the ring sits level with the face; nothing about it shows until you turn it.

Swivel Thumb Page Holder — Sparkle Star

One star and its ring in the box, and nothing to plug in.

1
Sparkle Star frame: four points, orange sides, two gold facets and 3 white sparkles set flush in the face
1
Swivel ring, cream, captive in the star's socket: it turns and tilts but does not come out
Size
4.2 × 2.1 × 0.4 in
Weight
0.4 oz
Thumb hole
0.83 in across the ribs (21.1 mm)
Ring
Spins, tilts any way, turns all the way over
Joint
29.2 mm ball in a 30.0 mm socket, 0.38 mm gap
Colours
Orange frame, gold facets, cream ring and sparkles
Power
None needed
The star lying on a wooden bookshelf in front of a row of pale book spines

Good to know

Will it fit my thumb?

The opening is 0.83 in (21.1 mm) across the 16 low ribs that line it. If your thumb passes through a ring that size up to the knuckle, it fits.

Can the ring fall out?

No. The ring's outside is a ball 29.2 mm across, and the socket narrows to 28.2 mm at both faces, so the ring turns and tilts in place but cannot pass through.

Does it work in either hand?

Yes. Either thumb goes through the same ring, and the star turns around it until a point rests on each page, whichever hand holds the book.

Does it need batteries?

No. Nothing in it is powered: your thumb turns the ring and the star follows.