Thursday, March 11, 2010

Bold, Maybe Too Bold, Chain and Shell Pearl Necklace

Ok, today I got the aluminum chain from Fire Mountain Gems purchased with my Bead Trends gift certificate that I talked about on Monday. I thought I had a good idea of how large the links would be but they're a bit bigger in person than I imagined.



I broke a 13 loop base metal silver tone necklace finding (like this one) I had in my stash, in half, and filed the ends smooth. Then I wired various shell pearls and electric blue faceted rounds to each loop, attached it to a length of chain made from more of same, added a few dangles and attached the chain. It hangs 18" from midpoint of chain to the end of the cluster. Because the chain is aluminum, it is lighter than it looks.

The shell pearls and electric blue faceted rounds can be found at Rings & Things:

29-555-10-905 Bead, Shell Pearl, Round, 10mm (Blue Mix) 36-44 beads per 16" strand.
29-555-16-905 Bead, Shell Pearl, Round, 16mm (Blue Mix) 23-27 beads per 16" strand.
29-555-10-901 Bead, Shell Pearl, Round, 10mm (Brown Mix) - 36-44 beads per 16" strand.
29-555-16-901 Bead, Shell Pearl, Round, 16mm (Brown Mix) - 23-27 beads per 16" strand.
28-000-007-443 Bead, Glass, Faceted Round, 10mm (Electric Blue) - 45-55 beads per 16" strand.

So, is the chain too much? It looks pretty dramatic on, that's for sure. If you like it, thank Tish for being my inspiration to go bold. If you don't, blame me for poor execution of the concept!

And please come back tomorrow for details of my giveaway!



FTC compliance notice of material connection: The assorted beads, as noted above, were provided to me for free, to be used for design purposes, or for a statement of my honest opinion of them, by Rings & Things.

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9 Comments:

Blogger Rose said...

I don't think the chain is too much. I think it's a drama piece. Something I might wear to a party with a black dress and a huge blue-stoned cocktail ring (while drinking a pink drink, I think...).

I quite like the chunkiness of the chain. It is a nice contrast to the openness of the links of faceted rounds and shell pearls. And the focal is kind of a combination of both... chunkiness with pearls and rounds. Very cool.

I happened to click on the picture and the focal was cut off of my screen and I think that the piece also works without the focal... so that's also kind of cool. You could take the focal off for a slightly more subdued look, but I like the boldness of the entire piece.

March 11, 2010 at 7:04 AM  
Blogger ohdawno said...

Wonderful thoughts, Rose! Especially about the focal - right now it's "hard wired" (literally!) into the necklace, but I'm going to seriously ponder how it could be made detachable. Great idea, thanks!

March 11, 2010 at 7:20 AM  
Blogger Dave Robertson said...

I had the word 'dramatic' in mind when I clicked to comment, and I see Rose agrees. Perfect for making a bit of a splash when you want to be noticed. This is neat, Dawno!

--Dave
at Rings & Things

March 11, 2010 at 7:43 AM  
Blogger ohdawno said...

Thank you, Dave - given the size of the larger pearls, I wanted to go bold with it, but as that's a bit outside of my usual style, it's hard for me to evaluate whether or not it works.

March 11, 2010 at 7:47 AM  
Blogger Dawn Doucette said...

Hey Dawno,

It is bold, dramatic and definitely a statement piece. It would look lovely with a simple top i.e. plain turtle neck, solid colored sweater, etc.

But it really works. I think you executed the concept well and yet didn't over-do it. It's really beautiful!

Great job!
Dawn

March 11, 2010 at 8:30 AM  
Blogger Just A Tish said...

*Stands and Cheers!!!!!* This is amazing! I love it! never too bold my dear :)

I am slack jaw'd, i just keep staring at it.

March 11, 2010 at 10:17 AM  
Blogger ohdawno said...

Thank you Dawn and Tish. I really appreciate the comments. It's a fun piece that I look forward to wearing a lot (nope, this one doesn't *ever* go on sale).

March 11, 2010 at 10:56 AM  
Blogger Davinia said...

There's no such thing as too bold Dawn. The trend down here seems to be the the bigger and bolder the better. Love how you attached the pearls. Gorgeous piece!

March 11, 2010 at 2:01 PM  
Blogger ohdawno said...

Thank you so much, Davinia!

March 11, 2010 at 11:06 PM  

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