When this came back for a repair (because the owner had hooked into a chair and yanked—it survived this abuse a few times, but ultimately the clasp pulled apart—amazingly enough, the tigertail didn't break) I heard an interesting story: that she'd bought it on a whim, not really expecting to like the piece that much. It was a good deal, thrown in with the others.
But, over time, it grew on her, and became one of her favorite pieces. I made only three of these peridot and moonstone necklaces (all slightly different) and thought they were lovely; but I had a terrible time selling them. Now I wonder whether the other two grew on their owners, too. I didn't really have a nicely proportioned s-clasp handy, so (with the customer's permission) I pounded one out in silver. Since I couldn't find my mini-anvil, I flipped the bottom of my frit crusher upside down, and used that. It worked fine, though you'll note I don't feel the need to provide a closeup of my wonderful clasp (not). However, it's very nicely work-hardened, and unlikely to open up. And even with its imperfections I still feel it suits the piece better than a commercially manufactured clasp would.
This closeup shows the stacked spacerbar region that typically serves as the focal area in this design. Ideally the beads should all add up to the same length, so the bars are horizontal when the piece is worn. This piece doesn't quite achieve the objective, and the middle dangle's tendancy to curl, like Dilbert's tie, is something to enjoy, I guess, rather than worry over.
This little section of faceted quartz, peridot, and Indian glass illustrates the rhythms I like to employ when putting various sizes of round beads together. The corrugated rondel in the center, acting as sort of a collar, or constriction, in the pattern, is a trick I picked up from Page, who's used it to great effect.
Peridot, quartz, moonstone, glass, silver. 23” long (from nape to central dangle); spacerbar 15/16” high x 13/16” wide. Early 90s?
Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.
