| 500 feet of 22 gauge German silver wire. I wound all of the wire myself using two mandrel sizes; one gave me an inner diameter on my rings of 2.25mm, the other gave me an inner diameter of 2.75mm. For those of you not familiar with this system of measuring the inner diameter of rings, it's really tiny. It would be the same as wrapping the wire around a #1 and #2 US knitting needle to make your rings (which is, incidently, exactly what I did) Using a hand jewelers saw and a #7 blade (again, tiny!) I sawed every single ring in this piece by hand. |
| Here is a close up of the final point of this bib necklace. Hopefully it will give you an idea of the ring size and cabochon size. The stones are 5mm black onyx, each one hand wrapped in Half Persian 3-1 weave using rings with an inner diameter of 2.75mm. The Byzantine units that make up the webbing you see here are constructed using rings with an inner diameter of 2.25mm. |
| Every black onyx cabochon has a 7x10mm Czech glass drop hanging from the spot the Byzantine webbing joins each layer or row together. Each Czech drop was hand wrapped using a hand made finding. Each Byzantine unit in the webbing is separated by a white 4mm Swarovski pearl. Each of the over 80 pearls on this piece were hand wrapped as well. |
| I am including these two pictures to hopefully give you a better idea of what the full piece looks like in person. They are taken using different resolutions and different lighting. The one on the left is a larger file size; the thumbnail may take a moment to load. |
| And last but certainly not least, here is the piece that inspired me to make the monster you've just read all about. Created by the very talented Tina Delorme the beautiful piece of bead work you see here inspired me to break out of my creative shell and give myself a real challenge. Please visit her website to see more of her wonderful creations; elizaBEADIN; A Renaissance in Bead Shopping. |
| Not only does she make some fabulous jewelry, she makes some of the most detailed and beautiful Renaissance costumes I've ever come across. Any fan of fantasy, the SCA, or just looking pretty will surely adore her creations. |
My Precious
