Sea Goddess

This necklace began with a strand of pearls that I wasn't even searching for. In a sense, it found me and I was completely captivated. Whatever thoughts I might have had of working on something else completely vanished. I have never seen such a beautiful strand of coin pearls. The closest I can come to describing their color is that it is the color of sea foam at sunrise, shot through with hues of pink and gold. Beautiful aquamarine briolettes are like drops of crystalized sea water. Interspersed are small Swarovski crystal bicones, with a depth and sparkle that both catches the eye and highlights the paler hues of the pearls and aquamarines. To make this necklace really special, I hand formed, soldered, hammered, and tumbled a beautiful teardrop shape out of sterling silver wire as a pendant, whose materials encapsulate the materials used in the necklace itself. I went through the same process to make two more pendants, a little smaller, for matching earrings. All silver used in this piece, with the exception of two tiny Thai silver beads and the crimp bead covers by the wonderful, organic, spiral shaped clasp, was made by me. I can just imagine Venus, the Sea Goddess, the goddess of love and laughter, as painted above by Sandro Botticelli, rising from the bosom of the waves and wearing this necklace with pride.