Fireball Pearls....Which way is preferred sitting on the neck?

[Camhatch]

I have never strung fireballs before, but have a fairly nice 18-22mm strand to do for a client.

Half the images I've found online are of the pearls all facing the same way eg. all facing their little tails the same way around the neck...
And the other half are of the pearls all pointing up towards the back of the neck from the center, so the two center pearls have their "balls" so to speak facing each other haha

What have you had experience with and what way do you prefer?

I would like to do them all facing towards the back, so she can put on a detachable pendant in the center if she wants to, but I'm not sure this is the correct thing to do.

Thanks for your input!
Cam

 

[Marianne]

I think you have the right idea, Cam. Having the tails facing the clasp on both sides makes for a much neater appearance and easier to work clasp. How large are the pearls?

 

[BWeaves]

There's a third way. All tails pointing down. But that would require the drilling to go the other direction, and I assume yours are already drilled head to tail.

You might want to temporarily string the pearls and wear them yourself for an hour, and see if they rotate around the neck. I know my pearls always move, and I'm constantly feeling for where the clasp is. If you string them all going the same direction, they'll never look wrong on the neck. If you string them so the 2 halves of the necklace mirror each other and then the necklace rotates around the neck, then it will always look "off."

 

[JerseyPearl]

Camhatch, you may wish to place some sort of small decorative jump ring in the center of the necklace so as to attach the removable pendant. Something that would be functional, but striking left without the pendant. I'm thinking a small diamond set or textured jump ring might look great.

Something like this: https://www.gempacked.com/14K-Gold-...ctor-Double-Sided-Diamonds?gp_product_id=2236

Alternatively, you could also set with a toggle clasp and then use the toggle loop as a place to suspend the pendant.

ETA: if you really want to mix things up a bit, you could match the tails/heads in pairs so you'd have tails/tails, heads/heads, tails/tails, heads/heads all the way around. I strung up a Tahitian drop necklace that way...but I didn't take a photo of it.

 

[Camhatch]

Geez thanks for giving me more options! haha. They are graduated 18-24mm and already drilled. They were originally strung on wire with horrible long plastic beads between them (who would do this????)

Good idea to temporarily string them up and see how they sit. Will do this later today.

And gorgeous loop connector JerseyPearl! But think she wants more of a casual look. Will have a play and see how we go!

Thanks for your input everyone!

 

[JerseyPearl]

Do post the finished restring! I am a huge fan of using gemstones with pearls...you could also do the head/head tail/tail with a small gemstone bead in between each pairing. Lots of fun ways to restyle jewelry.