Vintage Murano Glass Beads. Rare Red Holiday necklace

In December I like to make a red necklace.  It is my own private holiday celebration.  If i'm lucky I will be invited to a party and can wear my scooped neck black velvet with my new red necklace. If i'm even luckier, I will sell my new necklace and the person who bought it will continue the red necklace holiday celebration.

I have a relative whose Mother lived  in Venice, Italy .  She designed and sold necklaces made from Murano glass beads from 1950-1970.  It must have been a big industry because when she died, she left a room full of beads of many colors and different styles.  I am a bead expert and to this day I have not seen beads like the ones in the necklace above.  These are Murano glass with an applied satin finish in the most vibrant cherry red. Good red beads are hard to come by , but this collection has many.  Another red necklace made from vintage Murano glass oval matte finish beads can be seen on my first blog, "Welcome To My blog--All About Necklaces".

The necklace above is made from satin finish vintage Murano glass beads, sterling silver, black Swarovski crystal. It has an extender chain and a sterling oval  lobster claw type of clasp and sells for $275.00.  If purchased this through this blog, it is on sale for $225 with free shipping in the USA . To  contact me, write your request through Post a Comment below and leave your e mail address.

PEACE TO ALL!!  HAPPY 2010!

African Beads

One of the handmade designer necklaces made by adner-Bergart.com is shown above.  It combines beads from the countries of Ghana, Uganda and Ethiopia. 
The large striped mustard color beads are made from powdered glass in Ghana.  The large turquoise beads are made from recycled glass in Ghana. 
The medium size beads in the back are made from recycled paper that is lacquered.  These are produced in Uganda.
The beads between the recycled beads are handmade brass beads from Ethiopia.
All the beads are interesting and different.  All are wonderful.
This necklace can be purchased by contacting us on the contact us page in the website above.

Purchasing African beads

The handmade designer necklace above is composed of African beads, except for the vintage gold Murano glass beads that separate the Mali Wedding beads.

The black and white striped beads are old Mali glass. One can tell that they are old by the fine patterns and the thin edges. The new Mali glass wedding beads are of harsher solid colors. They have a slightly squared edge. Be sure when you purchase Mali Wedding beads that you pay for what you get. Like everything else, the old beads are much more expensive than the new ones.

The large circular new Ashanti brass beads are a great substitute for gold. They have a wonderful bronze gold color, distinctive patterns, and come in a myriad of shapes and sizes. Unfortunately, I have purchased strands that have so many defects that I have only been able to use a few of the beads. Defects I have found are: one side is perfect and the other side has holes in it, extra brass drops fall on the piece, and pieces are broken. A word to the wise, examine them carefully before purchasing.

A necklace of old blue Mali wedding beads similar to the one above is on the website
adner-bergart.com. Cost is $250. Use the comment space on this blog or the follow the instructions on the website if you wish to make a purchase.

Zipper Necklaces

What is it?  One has to look hard to identify the composition of this striking necklace!

My friend Louise makes fabulous handmade designer necklaces out of zippers.  She is a weaver and became interested in using utilitarian materials such as plastic plumbing tubes, pieces of metal, and rubber cord in her baskets. Always on the lookout for recycled or useful materials she stumbled upon a necklace made of zippers in South Africa and the rest is history! You can see she has developed her zipper necklaces into an art form.

There was a movement in the period between World War I and World War II called The Machine Age. It was a time when ordinary materials such as chrome, nickel, glass and plastics such as galalith and bakelite were used to make interesting geometric jewelry, furniture, etc.. The Jakob Bengel Factory described in my last post was an important producer of necklaces made from these materials. Louise's zipper jewelry is a descendant of the Machine Age thinking. Louise sells her necklaces in many Museum stores in the US and Europe. To contact her or see her creative and original jewelry, check out her website at zipblingjewelry.com.

Art Deco Handmade Designer Necklaces

I first learned about Jakob Bengel jewelry from an article in Modernism Magazine, www.modernismmagazine.com titled "An Art Deco Treasure Trove" written by Christianne Weber-Stober. Jakob Bengel was the name of a trinket manufacturer in small German town. Influenced by the Bauhaus in the late 1920's they began to produce handmade designer necklaces of Art Deco style which were made from chrome, nickel, glass and plastic. Geometric shapes of cones,circles, parallelograms and triangles formed components of the jewelry.

"The Union of Artistes Modernes" in France, founded in 1929 wrote " To be beautiful, a material does not have to be rare or costly"..."A material is beautiful when it is aesthetically gratifying to the eye and sense of touch simply because of the way it has been worked and used with forthought".

If you want to see some stunning necklaces of more typical Jakob Bengel jewelry, I encourage you to click on the Modernism Magazine website above. Another resource are the books "Art Deco Jewelry: Jakob Bengel", and " Bengel Art Deco Jewelry: Jewelry and Industrial Monumennt in Idar-Oberstein" They can be found at www.arnoldsche.com .

Colors and Patterns -Wiener Werkstatte Necklace

This handmade designer necklace is listed as made by the Wiener Werkstatte. " The Wiener Werkstatte (1903-32) was a collaborative of designers and craftsmen that sought to create an art appropriate for a modern age. They saw functional and decorative objects as equal to the fine arts and strove for a precise balance of form and color." Quote from "Wiener Werkstatte Jewelry" Neue Gallery, NYC.
I picture this necklace acting as a collar around the base of the neck. It is made of tiny seed beads in a rainbow of colors. The patterned stripe and check pieces must have been woven. They are connected by multicolor strands of beads the repeat the color in the design. I would love to know how the necklace keeps it's octagon shape. I would be greatly appreciative if anyone out there in cyber space can enlighten me.

Combining Color

In Lisa Kosan's interview with Iris Apful, fashion doyenne, she said "In the right tonality, I never met a color I didn't like." The fuscia and rust in the necklace above are examples of colors that could clash, but do not when they are in the same tones.

When designing a room, a rule of thumb is to use a lot of neutral, a lesser amount of a second color, and a small amount of an accent color. This necklace uses the same principles. The major colors are the black and white batik bone from Kenya which is neutral, the next amount of color is orange in various tones. There is the soft apricot shade of the large recycled glass pieces from Ghana, the brown ( a dark orange) of the bauxite that surrounds the centerpiece, and the rust in the vintage Murano glass beads. The accent and smallest amount is the fuscia vintage Murano glass beads. This works as well in necklaces as it does in rooms.

Check out this necklaces and others at Adner-Bergart.com

Iris Apfel - "Rare Bird of Fashion"

The October 8,2009 Boston Globe G section has an interesting article by Christopher Muther about Iris Apfel and her fantastic fashion collection. The show of a lifetime's collection of clothing, jewelry and other accessories will open at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem , Ma. Her skill is combining diverse fashion items to make a work of art. She used expensive designer clothes, handmade designer necklaces as well as blue jeans and other inexpensive items. In an interview with the Peabody Museum Editorial Director, Lisa Kosan, she said she liked "architectural clothes so I can embellish them myself."

Handmade Designer Necklace: Ivory silk and mother of pearl.

If your are a tall , large woman this handmade designer necklace is for you ! If you have tawny or dark skin even better! It will look wonderful with an ivory silk low necked top . The mother of pearl and vintage Murano glass will compliment your skin, and the sensual dropped teardrop will accentuate your cleavage. Wear it on a tropical night or a sunny day. It is a one of a kind necklace and can be found at necklacesbyadner.com.

Handmade Designer necklaces :American Indian and Ethnographic Auction

Sat. Sept 26 the Skinner Auction House, Boston Gallery, will sell two collections of American Indian items. These are handmade designer necklaces by Native Americans. There is a picture the Boston Globe Newspaper of a beautiful silver and turquoise squash blossom necklace which is expected to bring $1,500-$2000.

TheHunt for Variscite

The Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona has a wonderful Museum Shop. www.heardmuseumshop.com. When I was there a few years ago, they had a fine necklace made by an American Indian artist. It combined turquoise, lapis lazuli (royal blue), spiny oyster(orange) , and a beautiful opaque emerald green stone I had never seen before called Variscite. I wanted that variscite to use in a necklace. but could not find it. I supposed it was rare and that only the native American jewelers had access to it.
However, in researching the variscite I discovered it was a relatively common mineral that was found in Western and Southern United States, Ireland, Wales, Hungary and more. It is a cousin to turquoise.

A while later I was again traveling in Arizona, this time to Jerome, an old mining town . There was a mineral shop there and I spotted one strand of variscite shards (shown in the pictured necklace above) hanging on the wall. The new store owner could not identify the stones. The label from the previous owner said "Snake River". There is a Snake River in Utah and a Snake River Mine that produces variscite and I think that is where the stone shards in my necklace are from. The necklace above has two strands of variscite, Nepalese inlaid beads, and ethiopian handmade brass beads. It can be purchased through necklacesbyadner.com

Antique African and Vintage Murano glass beads

This handmade designer necklace from Adner-Bergart.com is presently in the Color Obsession Gallery in Mashpee, MA. At an opening party, I met an acquaintance who is "intuitive". Although there were four of our necklaces displayed, she went right to this necklace, lifted it up, and said she just had to touch the yellow beads. She said they were old, there was a story, but she did not know what it was.

The yellow opaque glass with turquoise patterns on them are about 100 yrs old. They are called Bodum and were made for African kings . Collectors covet Bodum beads and the best ones still have colored patterns on them.

This was the first necklace that Andrea and I made. We made a long one and a short one and they both sold immediately. We have two more left to sell. What I love about this necklace is how the turquoise glass beads glow. It has history, a great color combination, and rare beads.

The Bodum beads are combined with the rust satin vintage Murano glass beads, Czech blown turquoise glass circa 1920 and new recycled glass beads from Ghana.

Vintage Miriam Haskell Necklace

Imagination is shown in the design of this Miriam Haskell necklace. Both the beads and the color scheme are unusual. They must have made it many times before they got it right. Although it is costume jewelry, and generally made from inexpensive materials of the time, they have become desirable collectors items. There are many different styles of Haskell necklaces . The thread that runs through them is innovative design, inexpensive materials , and a big statement.

The Collectors Weekly, www.collectorsweekly.com , has information about Miriam Haskell necklaces. They said " she was not a designer, but an excellent talent scout. Frank Hess was her first find... and designed necklaces from 1926-1960 when Robert Clark took over." Presently some Miriam Haskell necklaces are on sale through Collector's Weekly .

Bead Weaving

My friend Harriet is weaving beads to make this amazing necklace for her friend Alyce. It is a true labor of love because it has taken her hours and hours of combining and weaving the beads together into a necklace. This is what she has finished so far. Alyce has a golden completion and Harriet considered this when she chose the beads for this necklace. The ivory and gold tones beads balance the roses and whites to help the necklace blend with Alyce's coloring .

Harriet and Alyce are part of our Bead and Feed group . We help, admire, and inspire each other in our art and beading. We also eat very well and talk a lot . Everyone brings something for lunch. Good for the mind and soul.

Collecting old Murano Glass beads

I knew about this relative in Venice whose Mother designed and manufactured necklaces for the trade from 1950 to 1970. When she died he inherited thousands of beads. When I first saw them, I was disappointed because they did not have the typical embedded gold and silver foil or flowers. I purchased some red beads because I knew red is hard to find and they were a lovely graceful oval shape. I would buy a small quantity each year, but they were not important to my design.

Finally I realized the colors, the textures, the shapes are unique. In the picture above you can see textures that look like granulated sugar and satin, and you can tell the human hand has touched them because the shapes are not perfect. They span many eras from the early 1900's to the modern movement.

Now I eagerly travel to Venice to collect beads . I stay in a beautiful room in the family palazzo overlooking roofs and the Venice Lagoon.. The linens on the bed are thick and starched and on the dresser is are multi colored old Murano glass perfume bottles and the Proseco is delicious .

You can see how Andrea and I combined these beads with Andreas' old African bead collection at Adner-Bergart.com

"Red to the Rescue"

The Boston Globe Fall Fashion magazine of 8/23/09 has a standout article about "Red Hot and New". It says that red is the"in"color this year, and has an elegant 6 page photographic spread of models dressed in various shades of black , grey and red. The photographer is Sadie Dayton and the styling is by Marci Duarte/team.

The only thing missing from this wonderful display are necklaces! If they only knew about Adner-Bergart's Niger necklace illustrated above or about the antique Murano opaque red glass and Swarovski black crystal necklace illustrated in Blog #1 they would have achieved perfection.

The "Niger" necklace illustrated above is made from beads made from ceramic from Niger, sterling silver , red glass from Ghana and antique and vintage Murano glass. More information about it can be found at adner-bergart.com.

Antique African Trade Bead necklace

This handmade designer necklace is made from the antique millifiore Murano glass beads used for trade in Africa discussed in blog#2. It is combined with sterling silver, vintage Murano glass, kunzinite, and carnelian beads. It is an informal necklace that adds color to whatever one wears. More about is is found on necklacesbyadner.com.

Finding African trade beads

About 40 years ago I was in Tangiers for a day or so. At that time, in the souk, there were barrels of old millifiore murano glass beads now known as African trade beads. I had no idea what to do with them, but I liked the way they looked. You could buy a huge scoop of beads from a big barrel and it cost a few dollars. Oh how I wish I had I purchased several scoops of beads. Now they are worth a lot of money.

I knew a psychologist who said you only regret the things you don't buy.

Many years later they served their purpose. They started my necklace passion. I made my first necklace combining those beads with semi precious stones from an old necklace my Aunt had given me, and now Andrea Bergart and I are making handmade designer necklaces from her old African beads, and my collection of old Murano glass beads.

They can be seen on our website adner-bergart.com.

Welcome to My Blog -- All About Necklaces

Necklaces! Lace around the neck. A bit of adornment that enhances the wearer. It is amazing to me that there is such a variety of design when all there us to work with is a long or short oval that encircles the neck.

This blog is not about precious stones such as diamonds, rubies and emeralds. It is about handmade designer necklaces made from less expensive materials such as antique African glass, vintage Murano glass, semi-precious stones, pearls, silver and brass.

It will cover necklaces from the Wiener Werkstatte period, the greats of Mexican sterling silver, Miriam Haskell vintage necklaces, and more.

The necklace above is made by Barbara Adner from antique Murano glass circa 1910 and Swarovski crystal. It can be seen at necklacesbyadner.com