Antique Spinel and Pearl Necklace

I got some exquisitely period faceted spinels from a woman whose grandfather had been a jeweler in the 1930's. I've had them for a number of years, using them very occasionally. I made an art deco influenced necklace from them a few years ago for a commission, but I still had the majority of them. (I'm still talking about small numbers.) I just realized very recently that they are almost 100 years old.(Time passes.)

This necklace uses almost all of the remaining golden spinels. I still have some in other colors. This design made it worth it for me to use as many of these as I did. The small pearls are particularly lovely biwa pearls from Lake Biwa in Japan. The larger one';s are fresh water pearls from China. The "color" of the pearls works  beautifully with the silver and spinels.

 

This is a close up of the center section of the design. This part of the design is about 3"high

From the collection of Tracy Schmidt.


I was going to write more but it's pushing midnight - so Good Night.