Thank you for your kind comments, newberry, Marianne, ckrickett, pattye, GemGeek, Pearl Dreams, lisa c, kellevpearls, BWeaves, JerseyPearl, amti, Tucs, CathyKeshi, and pkinnew.
As for the stringing material, I put the rondelles on a temp wire of 7 Strand Beadalon in Satin Silver Size XS (.012" or 0.30 mm), which is colored nylon coated stainless steel. I was checking out the composition before taking it in for professional stringing. When I arrived at the jeweler, they said it looked fine, and only charged me to attach the clasp. I reused the 14 kt yellow gold matte ball clasp that came with the ombre necklace from PP.
I do find that the rondelles catch a bit on the tiny hairs on the back of the neck, so I will plan on wearing this piece with collared shirts or sweaters. It looks great with brown and grey toned clothing. I'll try to put up some photos of me wearing it over the next few months.