This is one of my favorite pieces. It's made with cut glass beads from about 1920. They belonged to my grandmother and since the original necklace disintegrated, my mother's been hanging onto these for 50 years give or take. She gave them to me and I've been able to make them live again. The links are spirals made of 18 gauge sterling silver wire, each one graduated in size to fit the bead and connected by handmade sterling jumprings. It's a serious piece of work that I am immensely proud of.
Part of the mystique of jewelry manufacture is the tools. I admit it, I love new tools. I love good tools. Finely worked tools that have special and often obscure purpose. Sometimes I just go through catalogs looking at stuff and wonder what the hell a person does with such a gadget. I remember spending a lot of time as a little girl at my dad's workbench, messing with his tools (lord help me if I misplaced any). A while back while on a visit to my folks' house I spied dad's coping saw (frame saw/jeweler's saw) in his workshop and told him I coveted it. He laughed and said I could buy one for about $10 at Lowes. He's right of course, but that old one looked sweet. My own tool collection is modest and consists largely of the inexpensive variety. Until this craft starts to pay off, I can't justify the expense when money is put to better use buying materials (Christmas is coming and you never know what Santa will bring – Lindstrom, hint hint). But every ...
This is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I'm on my way to "heart" it on Etsy right now!
ReplyDeleteHey thanks, but as you probably found out, it's not there. Sentimental value means I can't part with the beads.
ReplyDelete