A Winning Combination

K and I were wrapping up our initial meeting, after looking at a number of “patients” she had for the Jewelry Doctor. Suddenly something we had talked about gave her an idea.

“Is there anything you could do so I could wear this—” 

“—with this?

Now that was a tall order! Without a clasp, there was no way to feed the tassel onto the necklace, even if it had a bail (see one anywhere?).

Another time, a pendant enhancer would be a great solution. These are a special kind of bail that open and close over a necklace. You often see them with pearls. But when we looked at them here, we saw that to use one with a narrow necklace like this one wouldn’t work. The combination would look clunky.

“Let me see what I can do,” I said. 

First order of business: creating a necklace that opened and closed. After taking pictures I made a pattern from the original necklace, took it apart, and rebuilt it with new chain and a clasp. 

Next, I added a fluted sterling bail. Presto! The tassel was now a pendant. The bail we selected allowed K to wear her new tassel pendant on a sterling chain, if she chose to do that, and to wear the necklace on its own, too.

Since we had some garnet left over, I made a bracelet for K to wear with her new necklace.

Here’s hoping K receives lots of compliments on the ensemble. It’s been a big hit with our other customers, two of whom have ordered variations on the theme. Stay tuned.

©2019 Laynie Tzena. All Rights Reserved.