Vivid
You might like to explore:
Cheongsam
Razzling Red
Vivid is a 76 cm long necklace of wooden beads in striking red and black with vintage metallised silver beads that can also be worn doubled up. For more info on the necklace, please click on Details, and if interested in my musings, please go to Story.
The naming of the beads starts from the bead in the centre, with measurement for the bigger beads, and moving upwards, with metal beads named last.
Length:76 cm (30”)
Weight: 72 gm
Red ombre Finnish wooden beads: 17mm
Small black wood spacers
Frosted rock crystal discs
Black wooden tubes with tapered end: 50 mm long and 7 mm at its widest
Silver coloured metallised plastic octahedrons (two pyramids joined at the base)
Silver coloured metallised plastic oblates: 15 mm long and 17 mm wide
Silver coloured metal screw clasp
Silver Manik identity disc
I set out to make this necklace when I thought of a friend who said that she wished she could find a very light yet striking necklace that she could wear all day…
I took out my red Finnish-made wooden beads that I had bought in Helsinki in 2016. I picked them because of their size – 17 mm, and because I love the gorgeous ombre finishing of the beads. I then thought of my long black wooden beads and the small spacers the provenance of which I could no longer remember.They too are beautifully finished (I soaked a few overnight, worried that they might not be colour fast, and they passed the test). Red and black would not be a combination I would go for normally but never say never! I needed metal beads, but remembering that the necklace had to be lightweight, I turned to my stock of metallised plastic beads from the ‘90s. I selected the brighter oblate ones and the ‘oxidised’ octahedrons (two pyramids joined at the base). Something was still missing though, and I experimented with various beads none of which was satisfactory until the frosted rock crystal discs. I love how bold and striking the necklace is, yet not shouty, easily wearable.
The design of this necklace calls for it to be worn longer, and so it is 76 cm (30”). You could wear it over collars, shifts, a salwar kameez, and with a range of colours from whites to greys, softer shades of red, black etc. It is also long enough to be worn doubled up! Given its strong colours, I am naming this necklace Vivid.
