Blessings
This 62cm long necklace, a symphony in green, has a carved serpentine pendant which drops down by another 49 mm. Other semi-precious stone beads are green jasper and lodolite, with Thai and Chinese silver beads brightening up the necklace. For more info on the necklace, please click on Details, and if interested in my musings, please go to Story.
The identification of the beads start from the bead in the centre, moving upwards, with measurement for some of the bigger beads, with metal beads named last.
Length: 62 cm (24.5”), pendant drops down by another 49mm
Weight: 82 gms
Carved serpentine pendant: approx. 49mm all round
Olive green jasper bicones: 20mm long
Dark green three-sided lodolite bicones: 33mm long
2.5mm small silver spacers
Three-sided Northern Thai silver cylinders
Diamond shaped Chinese silver bicones
Small silver discs
Round Chinese silver beads: 17 mm
Gold filled crimp tubes
Silver box clasp (to ensure that clasp is securely fastened, listen for the click when the hook engages in the box)
I played around with the design of this necklace for quite some time before I hit on the combination of beads that worked. I had bought a number of these carved “jade” pendants from my bead supplier Mr L years ago, but never got round to using any of them in a necklace. It was now time to do so for Manik!
Much of what is claimed to be ‘jade’ in the market, is often not, and neither is the pendant in this necklace (most likely it is serpentine, a stone that is often passed off as ‘jade’), but there is no denying the craftsmanship that went into the making of it. The pendant has a Chinese longevity symbol in the centre, and is surrounded by bats, the Chinese word for which, as some of you may know, is “fu”, the same sound as “fu” for prosperity. So “bats” are symbolically auspicious in Chinese culture.
I decided against using round beads – too stereotypical, I felt. And was delighted when I found the longish dark green lodolite bicones that looked like they had moss trapped inside them, as well as the shorter green jasper bicones the colour of which matched the pendant. I bought them years ago, in Bangkok, and like so many of my beads, they were not used, and half forgotten. So, I settled on these two bicones, their different lengths providing a good contrast.
For silver beads I selected three different ones from my collection – the smaller three-sided cylinders that are Northern Thai, as well as a round one and a diamond shaped one. These last two are both Chinese silver beads, among the first of silver beads in my collection, bought in the Nineties from a shop in Chinatown. The three-sided Thai silver cylinders have fishes carved on all three sides (this is quite common in Northern Thai silver beads), and again, as some of you may know, the word for fish in Chinese, is “yu” which also sounds like the word for “abundance, plenty”, again, symbolically auspicious.
Given all the ‘auspicious’ symbols that unwittingly came together in this necklace it seems appropriate to name it Blessings! The colours are muted in this necklace though the silver brightens it up, but it would probably work best with clothes from a more muted or pastel palette. But do try it with other tones and hues too!
