June 17, 2008

Strung and Beadwoven Necklace

Making this necklace reminded me of my first jewelry pieces that I used to make.
Before I started to learn to bead weave and got hooked on it, I used to play and string different kinds of beads to make necklaces and bracelets. I also remember that I used to make a lot of earrings, combined with wire working, but now I don't make them anymore. Bead weaving is much more fun for me! It is like painting or sculpting, two things that I also like to do, but with beads. So, in this necklace I combined my old and currant passions – stringing and bead weaving.
I used Tiger Eye round beads, gold resin beads and a beautiful Volcano cherry quartz (manmade) focal bead – all strung between 2 Herringbone ropes, made with Miyuki triangle beads.
I also used beautiful natural stones, that I am not quite sure of their kind. I immediately fell in love with those beads when I saw them in the store in the Gemstones section, and decided to buy them even though no one at the store could tell me what they are.
I asked one of my beadweaving students who used to work in the jewelry industry to try and identify the stones, and she said they are Amethyst. I think she is right, because in one of the photos, where the light goes through the beads, you can see the purple Amethyst color. If you have a guess of what they are, I would love to know what you think.
But no matter what they are, don't you love the rough cut, the little cracks and the deep color they have?


30 comments:

  1. yet another stunning piece!!!! beautiful!!! :-)

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  2. I agree with your student: those look like amethyst nuggets. The only other thing I can think of is a dark garnet, but I suspect those would have cost you so much that you would have remembered ;)

    I love this "new" style of yours. You combine the two elements of stringing and beadweaving so very beautifully. You have a great eye (and very skilled hands)!

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  3. Hmm.. from a geologist's perspective, those look way darker than any amethyst I've seen.. I would identify them as garnet from the pictures. Now what you need to do is get a really really thin slice (called a thin section), put it under a microscope in cross polarized light, and if it's opaque black, then it's garnet, but if it's more of a gray, then it's a variety of quartz. Oh dear.. I'm a nerd. :)

    But it's a beautiful necklace, whatever the stone is!

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  4. but then.. it could just be the light and how it's faceted. The facets look more like how a garnet actually grows, but in your middle picture, I'm seeing more of the purple. So it could be be dark amethyst cut to look like garnets. :)

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  5. but on the other hand, the luster looks more like the resinous luster that garnet has than the glassy luster that quartz has.

    oh dear, I really need to stop. :) But you piqued my geological interest!

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  6. Whatever the nugget is, your necklace is beautiful.

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  7. Njema, don't stop!... LOL Everything you explained is very interesting. I only wish I had the tools and knowledge to check the beads like you suggested :)Thanks!

    Thank you Carol Dean and all fellow Etsy Beadweavers members!

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  8. No matter what the stones are, the piece is lovely!

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  9. The necklace is just gorgeous!!!! It doesn't matter what kind of stones they are... Just beautiful.. :-)

    Lolo :-)

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  10. WOW this is just amazing - I love the coloring and the design - WOW

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  11. It's an amazing piece Smadar! So elegant!

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  12. Smadar, this is such an elegant piece. I love it.

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  13. Beautiful design and colour combination. I like this necklace very much :)

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  14. Thanks a lot lolo, jean, anna and clinkscalesarts :)

    Dora, thank you very much! It's nice that you have stopped by :)

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  15. Wow ! Your necklace is just GORGEOUS !

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  16. Absolutely lovely Smadar!!! You're so right about the rough cuts and cracks. I like that look :)

    Louise

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  17. There is a japanese expression 'wabi sabi' which, in short, means the beauty of an imperfect object (or peson a.s.o.) - I just love this necklace!!

    Could it in any case be tourmaline?
    I have a couple of stones very near to this colour and, they are very 'wabi sabi'-tourmaline ;-)

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  18. It is so beautiful ! Very elegant!!

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  19. Thank you all very much for the warm comments!

    Thank you Louise, and Mags - Tourmaline can be another option, but still, I'm not an expert. I will take the stones to someone who is to have a look..

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  20. Gorgeous necklace! I've passed a couple awards onto you! More info is available on my blog, http://www.kaysk9s.blogspot.com

    - Kay

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  21. Thank you, Kay, both for the compliment and the award.

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  22. Beautiful necklace...

    I love it!

    You are a real artist!

    Very gifted...very talented!

    Congratulations

    LOL ( Lots of Love)
    marylo, la rêveuse

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