My latest jewelry creation is often my new favorite, and I may need to spirit this necklace away into my permanent collection. The focal piece is a 20-cm jasper stone that reminds me of a waterfall or rain against a fiery sunset, hence the piece's name. I made a modified basketweave bail using a "spine" of 22-gauge sterling wire wrapped with 28-gauge sterling wire, and on the three ends of the "spine" I then added five wirewrapped crystal quartz briolettes. The necklace is a simple composition of dyed pearls, Thai silver cornerless cubes, and more of the briolettes.
I'd never seen this stone before; after some Googling I learned it is sometimes called "African turquoise", although it is unrelated to turquoise in any way except appearance and is usually found in Australia or North America, not Africa. It's not a common find, unfortunately; two weeks after purchasing a strand of these at Mama's Minerals I returned to find the whole hank gone, with no more on the way. I have maybe a dozen more of these beads (at left is a bracelet I made with [real] Mexican turquoise rounds to enhance the blues) and will probably make several more of these pendants. This one, though, seems most special; although I currently have it for sale in my new gallery, I might need to wear it home one day.
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