Do you know what kind of knots are on this Tiffany collection?

[Hoshi]

Hello,

I'd like to make a pearl necklace (my first one!) inspired by Elsa Peretti's Sphere collection for Tiffany & Co.
The balance between the beads and those oversized knots attract me, as well as the color contrast.

Do you happen to know what kind of knots those are? Double ones? Surgeon's knots?

I've attached some pictures, but if you need to zoom in more, you can check out some original ones here:
https://www.international.tiffany.c...ndants/elsa-peretti-sphere-necklace-35346244/
https://www.international.tiffany.c...ndants/elsa-peretti-sphere-necklace-34902488/

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[Pearl Dreams]

The knot will be larger when the thread used is thicker, and this looks like thicker than usual thread. Apart from that, my guess is that they are just double overhand knots (jeweler's knot) in which the thread was passed through the loop not just once, but twice, before tightening. Doing this makes an elongated knot.
See this brief video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks-eTbL8j50

Note that to use thicker thread you may need wider drill holes.

 

[Hoshi]

Thanks for the video Pearl Dreams, it helps a lot! About wider drill holes... unfortunately the holes are small on the pearls I've ordered. I'll play w/ the knots though to try to reproduce a similar effect.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

One precaution: double overhand knots don't just slide into place when you pull the doubled threads apart. It's easy for the knot to tighten in the wrong place if you do that.

I find that when I make a double overhand knot, I really must use an awl to move the knot right to where it belongs before tightening it at all, and I leave the tip of the awl in the knot until the final bit of tightening.

 

[Hoshi]

Got it. Thanks again!

 

[multichrome]

I love your inspiration photos. I’ve been playing with pearls and microsuede cord and having a good time. I eventually had to order large hole pearls. I hope you’ll have fun, and share your results with us if you feel like it. Here is a super simple thing I did, just to see if I could get the pearl on the cord and what it would look like knotted. It’s a large hole 9mm freshwater pearl strung on a 3mm navy blue faux suede cord. No clasp or anything, just a pearl, a piece of cord, and two knots. I have not decided on clasps yet so I just knotted it once more to fasten it on my wrist. The photos you posted inspire me to keep playing with cord and big pearls. I have some black satin cord I have not tried yet, hm hm.

Enjoy your project!



(oh my cat, that pic is so huge, sorry)

 

[Hoshi]

I'm so glad it inspires you too, and thank you for sharing! I really like the simplicity of the design and the modernity of the fabric choice. I will definitely post pictures as soon as I manage to make what I'm imagining — crossing my fingers here.

 

[pattye]

What a fun project to figure out! Multichcrome, you've got the proportions right! I've done a few similar with leather cord for friends, and will be interested to see how they hold up over time. (Sorry, forgot to take photos to share.)

Hoshi, you will need pearls/beads with large drill holes ~ my guess is minimum 1 mm and likely even larger, perhaps to 2 mm. The cord will need to be a bit smaller than the size of the drill hole. You will need to experiment!

By enlarging the Peretti photos, the silk seems to be a thick woven cord, not a solid like leather. PD's description of making a double knot is exactly the steps I followed, too. The double knot keeps the beads/pearls nicely aligned. When I single knotted, the pearls went kind of wonky and zig zag, not at all the effect I wanted!

 

[Hoshi]

Thanks for the advice Pattye

 

[Hoshi]

Actually, does anyone know where I could buy pearls with large drill holes? Preferable in Europe or shipping to Europe...

 

[BeadersSecret]

I looked at this cord a couple of times, then it came to me - looks like para cord. ( hubby used to sky dive ).

2mm is the the finest thickness that is available, the picture shown looks like 2mm to me, If you like this cord your pearls would have to be drilled out to size, minimum 2.5 or 3mm.

Lots of forum members here buy pearls from Wen Pearls on Etsy and have been very happy with their purchase
Hope this helps

 

[multichrome]

Hoshi, I got some of my large hole pearls from AliExpress. You may want a better quality pearl, but I liked these just fine and the service was good. My other sources were based in the US. These might be suitable for a trial run.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32640947518.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.43254c4ddLY0oM

My pearls have 2mm holes, but I’m able to trim one end (longwise) of a length of microsuede or faux leather cord so that I can thread the cord through the pearl drill hole. Then I cut the trimmed bit off once I’m done threading. The materials I’m using are strong but not stiff, so they pass through the drill hole without a problem. My little experiment above shows a pearl with a 2mm drill hole on a flat 3mm x 1.5mm cord.

Hope this is helpful!

 

[Hoshi]

Excellent tips, thank you Bernadette & Multichrome!!!