Eye-Catching Aquamarine & Gold Necklace with Victorian Gold Locket
SKU: 2213
£1,750.00Price
- This has to be my ultimate “wow” necklace. It looks like what it is…the real deal. Whenever I have made this design, in which the pendant is always different, clients have frequently told me how they have been stopped in the street (New York), in a museum (Boston) or even in a restaurant (New York and London). It is just one of those necklaces that turns heads.
- The central pendant is an antique Victorian, 10K gold locket in an oval shape with a domed centre, and lovely faceted, etched work around the border. It has a glazed locket at the back. It is 1½” wide (3.5cm) x 1” high (2.5cm) x 12mm deep.
- This shape has often been described as a target brooch (it has been altered from a brooch to a pendant). It is, undeniably a wonderful piece in itself.
- It hangs on a necklace of stunning, faceted cylinders of natural, aquamarine, that vary in size, from 16mm x 14 mm, down to 5mm. They are all a brilliant aquamarine blue, of the best quality. Most of the cylinders are translucent, but some have a lovely, cloudy, opacity, accentuating their aqua colouring.
- Aquamarine is the birthstone of March. The gemstone aquamarine is a blue/green member of the Beryl family. Its name comes from the Latin word aqua, meaning water of the sea, as the crystal stone resembles the sparkling colour of water in the Mediterranean. This gemstone is mined mainly in Brazil, but can also be found in Nigeria, Madagascar, Pakistan and Mozambique.
- I have interspersed 18K, antique gold beads, made in Afghanistan, using their traditional techniques. These are quite rare beads. They are 15mm and have been gadrooned in a melon shape.
- The Afghani have been crafting gold for centuries. When Alexander the Great came to Afghanistan, his people brought many skills, one of which was working in gold. Like the Romans, centuries later, a yellow, 18K gold was used. But one of the techniques was to take sheet gold and work it onto hardened resin and then decorate it accordingly. For me, this handiwork and yellow gold colour gives the necklace warmth and character and complements the gems.
- The clasp is a 14K gold toggle clasp. I prefer using toggle clasps because they are easy to use and quite secure. My silver name label is attached at the clasp.
- The necklace comes, like all my necklaces, with its own colour co-ordinated silk brocaded pouch bag, made by a Shanghai tailor.
- The necklace measures 18 inches long (46cm) with a 1 ¼” (3cm) pendant drop.
