In January I completed a necklace that had been sitting on my bench for longer than I want to admit. At least the middle bar piece. I wanted to do a rough look that almost was "twiggy". I shaped then hammered a piece of sixteen gauge sterling wire. Then I wrapped it with 24 gauge dead soft sterling, creating nine loops on the underside of the bar to attach whatever was going to go there. At that point I had not decided. In fact the bar probably sat around for a year before I decided that I had the time and inspiration to work with the piece.
I finally ended up using "garbage garnets" for the bib of the necklace. I say this because if these garnets were celebrities, they would be on the D list. They are rough and misshapen. Just the way I like them. They look like they could have just been taken from the ground, polished a bit, and drilled. I definitely was going for a rough, asymmetrical, organic look.
To finish the piece, I attached heavy gauge sterling chain and created a clasp that echoed the focal point of the necklace. The piece was oxidized and lightly polished out to give it the dark look.
Garnet garbage hangs right below the hollow of my throat.
Posts
