Freshwater pearls and iridescent glass beads, wired on sterling silver chain. About the chain — when I first moved to Albuquerque, I was somewhat unaware of the awesome influence of the sun — at 5,312 feet above sea level, it is incredibly bright. All of my sterling silver chain immediately began to tarnish, with interesting results. The chain on this piece tarnished to a mix of colors, among them red, purple, blue and green! I’m guessing the silver has a lot of copper alloyed in, but I don’t know for sure. I spent a lot of time anguishing about how to remove the tarnish, till I realized how beautiful it was and began including it in my designs as is. (If you would like a closer look at the chain itself, I have attached a photo of that too!)

This necklace is adjustable — it is 20 inches long, but can be converted as short as choker length, if you prefer. Metals included in this piece are sterling silver and gold-filled (I used gold-filled wire as well as lobster clasp — seemed to work better with the tarnish colors of the chain! 😍