Interesting Chains

A client asked me to make something like a photo she showed me ... of course I can't ever do exactly that, but it was a good place to start. The concept was a chain with big links that had bigger links threaded through two other links in random places. The client wanted to have beads added to her chain, and she wanted it to be 75cm long (a sautoir). We looked at what I had in the way of dark gray beads and settled on hematite in different shapes. And then I started to play ...

I made the first chain with medium links and divided it into parts. Then the hematite beads needed to be prepared - I wanted to make sure they would stay put, which meant a wrapped loop at the end of each bead. I put the beads and chain together and realized that the beads were too small for the link size of the chain. SO I selected larger beads and did another round of wrapped loops (NOT my favorite task). At the same time, I decided to make the chain longer so that it could be easily worn doubled. I added bigger links in black ice and found just enough smaller ones to use them too. As a finishing touch, we chose a hematite pendant to attach to one end, so that it could be worn in the front as a pendant.

 

And I still had the smaller hematite beads, so I constructed a chain with smaller links and only the bigger dark gray accent links. The clasp for both of these necklaces is a big lobster clasp which blends right in with the chain, making it easy to wear it in front, including in a Y configuration. (I first tested it with a hook clasp, but when the pendant was worn in the front, the hook wouldn't stay closed.)

  

This one is shorter, but it still has the choices of pendant, no pendant, and Y form. All of this was for a special order ... now I'm going to make one for myself, but it will be multi-colored (what a surprise!).