Peacock Pearls

I bought a pair of peacock pearl earrings from Angi Caldwell at her last trunk show. I know - I need another pair of earrings like a hole in the head, but I liked the design and they were very well priced. So finally during Spring Break, I had the time to make a necklace that would go with the earrings. I dipped into my stash of pearls and had some that coordinated perfectly with the fabulous large teardrop earrings.

The first thing that I did was that I oxidized the sterling wire and nuggets that I would be using, and also oxidized the silver on the earrings. This needed to be done first for this project because liver of sulfur can sometimes pit pearls.

While I initially designed the project with the idea it would simply riff on the classic strand of pearls, as I progressed through the project, I realized that would be too boring. So I selected an abalone dagger for the focal point. I have used this component in other designs. Overall, I am very attracted to the look and feel of these pieces.

The necklace is 17 1/2" long, which allows it to hang just below the hollow of my throat. After constructing the necklace, I polished it out and the soft gray metallic glow really complements the dark tones of the pearls.

Perfectly pearly!