Pearls and Perils

I did return from vacation as planned, but was felled by a terrible summer cold that wiped me out for a couple of weeks. Happily, the wonderful memories of my vacation remained with me to cheer me up as I recovered. Additionally, I bought a number of strands of gorgeous pearls of various sizes, shapes, and hues, which I fondled and played with and daydreamed about even when I didn't have the strength to produce any finished products.

One recent afternoon, I was idling picking through some loose beads I had in my inventory, and the light caught a beautiful bronzite oval. The golden inclusions and rich brown hues brought to my mind the colors of a lioness. Before I knew it, my mind had created an entire necklace starring that bronzite oval and some wonderful golden teardrop pearls. I knew what I wanted it to look like, and it was just a matter of fiddling a bit with the more peripheral stones which, although not the stars themselves, play a very important supporting role.

I loved the bronze colors of a variety of facetted Czech crystal beads I happened to have, which catch the light with every movement like the glint of a lioness' eyes. Additionally, their deep hues highlight the lighter gold of the pearls, and echo the chocolate brown of the bronzite. With the addition of two beautiful smoky quartz facetted rounds, the necklace was nearly complete.

As I like to provide options for friends and customers who wear my jewelry, I wanted to make this necklace adjustable. I bought a length of 14-karat goldfilled chain, with delicate, hammered links, and made a 14-karat goldfilled s-hook clasp to finish off the necklace. Additional images of this lovely necklace are in my etsy shop.