Necklace Project - Need Opinions

MSC, I'll see if I can dig out that Singer necklace ... we may find I've remembered it completely wrong lol. Lots of deep purple spiny oyster, plus. Having a dear cousin in New Mexico, as well as past business there, my silver/turquoise jewelry stash is generous, and getting no love since I fell down the PG/Ruckus rabbit hole. In fact, I've recently considered selling some ... Etsy maybe? It might be too hard to, as I remember where, who I bought the pieces from etc. ... waking the dragon on the pile of treasure is dangerous lol.
 
I too would like to see more of the Turquoise added back in.. maybe one bigger one on one side and two smaller ones on the other..off set ..not across from each other. I feel like it needs that lift of colour. These mixed pieces always seem like they will be easy but it's darn tricky to get a nice balance of colour and shapes. You're on a good path though...it's getting there . I would take a photo of each finished piece ...sometimes looking at the photos makes it clear as to what's right and what's not working.

Cathy --- don't poke the dragon... No seriously , if you are not wearing things and no one else wants them...sell em off and put the money to good use ... like GSS .... lol Don't worry about provinence - it's nice to have it but you're selling 'estate' items so they are..what they are..don't worry about it. ETSY is good but PScafe /whatever might be good too?
 
MSC, So fun to see your (and everyone's) creative process at work! Nearly always I do/redo temporary strings with rearranging, unless it's basic pearl strands. Do you ever work with a color wheel? Sometimes it helps me pick combos. Once I read a theory regarding harmonious proportions of colors, 60%/30%/10%, wish I could find it again. For example: the main color would be yellow gemstones, secondary, purple gemstones, last, gold (metallic). Has anyone else heard of this?

Nature pics are so inspiring for color combos, too!
 
More turquoise back in for me as well! :)
 
You guys are legit! I've been wearing the necklace and I've been thinking more turquoise as well, but in smaller stones. I don't have the right beads though currently, so it's going to have to wait a while. I was thinking of switching out the carnelian "chain" for turquoise. That way, when I wear it without a collar there'll be another pop of blue, and when I wear it with a collar the one pop will show, like so:
SoC.jpg
Thoughts? Does anyone have a reliable, solid source for turquoise beads? I see a lot of junky and fake stuff on etsy. I don't buy turquoise beads often enough to have a good source. I'd like to match the color of the sleeping beauty nugget, but I don't need "sleeping beauty" turquoise, just the color. If that makes sense. I'm looking for 4mm beads, one 16 inch strand, could be roundelles or heishi or rounds or barrels.
I'm still planning to move the turquoise nugget more to the side, swapping with a rhodochrosite.

Pattye - I've seen that formula used in home decorating - as applied to paint colours. 60% is your main colour 30% is a secondary colour and 10% is an accent colour. I imagine it would work well in general for balancing colours.
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Thanks, Pattye and Kat! I've never heard of this, but I'm going to do some research :) I have used a color wheel in the past, but this piece was more intuitively put together. Sometimes there's an idea in my head and I just try to see what I can do rather than plan it out. It's more fun/frustrating that way ;)

Arizona was the first place I heard wolves in the wild, one of my favorite field experiences. <3
 
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CathyKeshi said:
In fact, I've recently considered selling some ... Etsy maybe? It might be too hard to, as I remember where, who I bought the pieces from etc. ... waking the dragon on the pile of treasure is dangerous lol.
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I'd love to see your pieces, but I definitely understand about waking the dragon!
 
I think it will look amazing with more turquoise and those earrings are beautiful!
 
Sweet, sweet earrings, MSC! How is 22k wire to work with?? Love the asymmetry of the necklace and the soft colors! Agree with adding turquoise also.

You might check out NewWorldGems.com I have bought from them occasionally over many years. I don't much like their return policy, but think I've only used it once. They do have some sales. I do feel they know their gemstones.

Katbran, thank you for the reference to interior design for the proportion formula, I woke with the same thought, lol. It's just one of those tips to have in the "tool box" ~
 
Thanks, hanadama and Pattye!

Pattye, thank you for that reference! I found exactly what I was looking for and reasonably priced, even if it's a bit over my own budget. Perhaps creative budgeting will assist ;) I was going to purchase something sub-par, which is always a bad idea.
I think a turquoise chain will be just what the piece needs:
IMG_3916.jpg
light blue turquoise.jpeg

I like working with 22k wire the best. I used both 24 and 26G for the earrings and work hardened both a bit before using. I always buy dead soft. Never had an issue with high carat gold over the long term in wire wrapped pieces.
 
Love the earrings! I like your use of a bigger "jump ring" round ring at the top.
 
Oh wow, look at all the duplicate posts! I was having so much trouble posting last night, I guess it all caught up now.
Deleted all the duplicates. LOL. I was persistent last night.
 
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JerseyPearl said:
MSC, those are wonderful earrings...and Pattye asked my question...I've never tried 22k wire. Was it difficult to find?
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Thanks, Jersey and Cathy!

I get my 22k wire from Riogrande :) No problems there! I like working with high carat gold the best. Fire scale is much easier to remove, all it takes is a soak in pickle. And I can create ball ends without having to set up my actual torch; I just use my micro torch. Nope, I still haven't set up my torch ::eye rolls at self::
 
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as for Turquoise suppliers - I don't have much but the Turquoise I do have is mainly Kingman which I use for a rustic look . But you can't beat that blue from Sleeping Beauty.
One place for stones of all sorts is Dakota stones - they aren't cheap as it's retail pricing but whatever I bought has been very good.
The Turquoise Chick - yes that's the name of the website lol all my stones from her have been very good. She has most of the famous mine products
Tiny beads I get from Indian suppliers on ETSY and the prices from them are the same as the HK show -at least for what I bought that's true.
 
Thank you, PW!!

Thank you for all the references, Kat! I'm going to check out Dakota and Turquoise Chick. I did buy the strand that I posted earlier. Hopefully the host issues will get resolved and the photos will show back up!
 
You can buy Kingman directly from the processors of the mine at www.colbaugh.net
They often just have the boulder turquoise in strands which is much more rustic and contains a lot of brown.
Ertheart beads on Ebay (ruffmom) is a reliable source for sleeping beauty. The Sleeping Beauty mine in Globe, AZ has been closed now for several years and the prices keep going up. There is a newer mine in California and I will send that information when I get home to find it. It is a lot like pearls, in that there is a lot of imitation turquoise out there. That isn't always all bad, if you just need a pop of color for a jewelry project. You just need to know what you are getting and what you are paying for.
 
There is a lot of beautiful turquoise coming out of Chinese mines as well. There are very few open American mines anymore. There is always a lot of old stock around if you shop. It can be of better quality actually and you know it will be color stable. Again, buyer beware.
 
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