What was old is new again

Happy New Year!

I’m so happy to have started this year having spent some time in the studio… yay!  I have quite a few items that I’m not completely happy with, so I did some work on some of them and I think I’m feeling more content.

One of the items I was working on was my Reef pendant.  Somehow it turned into a full necklace.  I guess I had thought of it as a necklace when I first started doodling ideas, so it really just reverted back to part of the original plan.

While doing some tidying I found a necklace that I had made many years ago,  prior to learning any silversmithing.  I really liked the necklace, but as someone with curly hair, it was a dangerous item to wear… I think it ended up with more of my hair woven around it than I had left on my head!

Hair tangling necklace

I separated the links into pairs, twisted them together, and soldered/melted the wires to match the feel of the pendant.  Although I think I preferred the way the links looked originally, the new combined links work better on the new necklace, and it will now be worn instead of languishing tarnished on my wall o’ jewellery.

Here is the new necklace.  I used pearls of different shapes/colours, citrine, lemon smokey quartz, and a stone that I believe is Kyanite.  I purchased it from someone who was giving up jewellery making, and the supplies for sale were unmarked.  The bag it came in contained some Kyanite, and although this piece isn’t as blue as the others in the bag, it has the same feel (brittle).  From pictures I have seen, it looks like there is a broad range of shades for Kyanite.  So, unless corrected, that’s what I’ll call it until I find out differently.

Kyanite, citrine and baroque pearl necklace

I’m so glad that I’ve taken two pieces that I wouldn’t have worn (much) and turned them into a piece of jewellery that I think I will be happy to wear.  It’s a good start to the year 🙂