Handmade Designer Necklaces - Pearl and Swarovski crystal

I like colored unconventional luminous pearls.  A few years ago, they were plentiful.  Now for some reason they are hard to find.   The tear shaped  pearls above are many shades of green, blue and violet.  Most likely they were dyed to get this intense coloration.  The natural pearl colors are white and shades of pink or gray. 
These are fresh water cultured pearls. It is possible that the irritant was placed in a clam or oyster shell and the nacre of the shell covered the irritant and produced the shape and color.  After that it was dyed to enhance the original color.

Handmade Designer Necklaces - African and Murano glass beads

For many centuries glass beads were made in Murano Italy and used for trade in Africa. Presently, these trade beads have become rare and expensive, if you can find them at all.
Andrea Bergart and Barbara Adner, adner-bergart.com have combined their collections of antique and new African beads and vintage Murano glass to create unique and beautiful necklaces with a history. These necklaces are made from 100 year old glass beads called Bodum and Kings beads as well as the modern African beads shown above. These necklaces are sold at the Peabody Essex Museum Gift Shop in Salem, Massachusetts, USA. http://www.pemshop.com.
The black and white beads in the necklace shown above are ceramic from Niger.  The red and orange beads are Kopal from Africa.  This is a type of amber that is old, but not as old as true amber. Other beads are vintage Murano glass and ebony and silver.

Handmade Designer Necklaces - Over the Top !!! Miriam Haskell

In Los Angeles I came upon this fabulous display of Miriam Haskell necklaces.  I am an admirer of her jewelry.She was one of the few women designers who developed a growing and profitable business in the  1920's. She opened her store in 1926 in the McAlpin Hotel in New York City.  Soon after, the very creative designer Frank Hess joined her and they worked together for many years until she had to leave the business because of illness. After that,  Frank Hess carried on under the Miriam Haskell name.
Until the late 1940's the jewelry was unsigned.  Today, her necklaces are collectible and the early unsigned ones most desirable. To see some early unsigned pieces go to  the website http://imageevent.com/bluboi/haskellunsignedpieces.

Handmade Designer Necklaces -Tibetan Agate, Turquoise and Vermeil

The photo does not do justice to the deep burgundy rusty red of The Tibetan beads.  If you look closely these beads have a crackled  finish. The beautiful large turquoise pieces are olive green and blue green, shot with black and dark brown veins. A perfect contrasted color scheme.  The vermeil  is silver washed with 24 caret gold. I purchased the vermeil  a long time ago.  Now it would be too expensive to use.


The Tibetan beads were found in a wholesale bead store in New York City. They were on sale and no one was buying them.  I was thrilled  to have a chance to own beads from Tibet, and I purchased as many as I could. I use them sparingly.  This is the second necklace I have made from my Tibetan cache.

Handmade Designer Necklaces - Spiny Oyster, Turquoise, Ashanti Brass

Hello 2011!  Lots of snow so there is time to  make necklaces.  The one above is made from spiny oyster. I bought it from a dealer in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  I have always loved the orange color of the spiny oyster which the Native Americans combine with lapis lazuli, turquoise, or varicite, all blue green colors.
The rough spiny oyster discs sat in the bead box for a long time as I just did not know what to do with such big rough pieces.
Finally inspiration struck . Ashanti  Brass from Ghana ends the run of spiny oyster discs separated by small pieces of turquoise.  I found "coral" bamboo for the sides and back of the necklace and used turquoise and spiny oyster spacers in between. A great necklace for a large person.

Handmade Designer Necklace - Ashanti Beads from Ghana, West Africa

The brass beads in the necklace above are made by the Ashanti people in Ghana, West Africa. They use the lost wax method or casting to produce such finely detailed patterns in their beads.  It is a difficult and time consuming process that dates back to Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. It is a boon to those of us who make necklaces to incorporate such fine, labor intensive beads into our product.

Other beads in this necklace are blue dyed or real coral which are the small spacers, and petrified palm tree teardrops.  Comments and questions about this necklace can be directed to barbadner@gmail.com

Handmade Designer Necklaces - Amber, Copal, and Bakelite

Of all the gemstones I think true amber is the most difficult to identify. A reputable amber dealer is the only place to buy old amber.

Old Amber is rare. Colors are black, Baltic transparent, and shades of red, orange and yellow. It is light weight and when it is rubbed the it can pick up a piece of paper. Sometimes insects are trapped in the amber.

Amber substitutes can be old, beautiful, and expensive.  They come in the same colors as old amber. Copal is a fossilized resin found in Tanzania and the Congo. It is not as old as true amber but it old enough to become partially fossilized. The Africans treasure it and believe it has powers of healing.
Bakelite can be identified by rubbing it until it becomes warm.  It will have a medicinal smell.  Bakelite is an early plastic and is very desirable to collectors.

There are also cheap plastic imitations of amber. If the amber looks like a bargain, it is probably some sort of plastic.  Buy it if you like it and be sure you pay for plastic, not amber.
Anyone know the composition of the amber colored stones above?