Design This – Necklace to Match Bracelet, Part 2

It has taken me a bit longer than I had intended to find time to write/fit in the second part of my “Design This – Necklace to Match Bracelet” post. If you need a refresher on this challenging project, please see Part 1.

I was excited when my order from my supplier arrived. One of the rose quartz pieces pieces seemed perfect to compliment the soapstone bead of the bracelet and what was even more exciting to me was that one of the filigree beads that I had ordered as a possible companion to the large filigree bead in the bracelet actually was flat and delicate enough to serve as an accent on the oval piece of rose quartz, much like the silver decoration on the soapstone bead. The other filigree bead was perfect for spacers between sections of the necklace.

I laid out a design and asked my customer to come back and check it out. She suggested a couple of changes and asked about the possibility of a pair of earrings using some of the same components as in the necklace. Now that we had a final design, I got to work putting together the different sections and joining them together. I sent a photo of the almost completed necklace for approval. When that came through, there was just one thing left to do, come up with the perfect length.

My customer came back for a “fitting” and we decided that the best option would be to make it adjustable. I didn’t want to just add a standard extension chain however since my customer planned to wear this with mostly uncollared shirts. I didn’t want the clasp to look lopsided on her neck in the shortened position, so I came up with a double clasp extension chain that would allow the clasps to be symmetric at any length. Since I still had a bit of work to complete the necklace before it could leave and my customer was really excited about her new jewelry set, I sent the earrings home with her then. Soon thereafter she was able to pick up the necklace and wear the completed set.

Since the bracelet that I was trying to match was so complex and a necklace of similar complexity was desired and because I had so many matching materials, it was very helpful to be able to accomplish part of the design process of this custom order in person. Don’t let this stop you from contacting me though if you have a piece of jewelry or an outfit that needs a special companion piece and you haven’t been able to find it anywhere. Most of my custom orders have been easily handled by email, including photos at various points during the design process.

Design This – Turquoise Crystal Necklace

Not all of my custom orders come from Etsy alchemy requests. Earlier this year, a friend asked me to show her some of my completed designs and materials in colors that she liked to wear. We sat down with what I brought and she picked out a couple of things and made a wish list of others that she wanted to add to her wardrobe over time. This post is about a jewelry set that I designed around a strand of turquoise crystal beads that she particularly liked.

Initially, my goal was to just create a necklace design using the strand of crystal beads. The length necklace that my friend wanted was longer than the strand of beads, so I needed to incorporate some spacers or other complementary beads into the design. I had other beads in the same color as well as a variety of faceted glass and crystal beads that I thought would help showcase the large turquoise crystal beads. I strung up a variety of beads in different patterns to see what my friend liked the best.

She liked the small, faceted, AB coated Czech glass spacer beads the best. They did a good job of adding length, without taking away from the turquoise beads that she liked so much. We also discussed the pattern of spacers and large beads in the necklace. To add more emphasis to the turquoise beads, the final design was to include several of these beads grouped together in the front of the necklace without spacers.

There was a pleasant surprise when I laid out this pattern to the correct length. There were four extra large turquoise crystal beads. I sent a photo of the necklace and a suggestion for a pair of matching earrings before I beaded anything up. My friend was thrilled with being able to have matching earrings, so the custom necklace became a custom necklace and earring set.

If you have a particular color or style that you would like incorporated into a custom piece of jewelry, I’d love to hear from you and see if I have the materials to turn your vision into reality. You can contact me through my Etsy shops, EDCCollective or EclecticSkeptic, or send me an e-mail.