Serpent Fringe Necklace

One of my favorite things about choosing a niche for jewelry design, is being able to use my favorite techniques as often as I want. So when I’m faced with a new inspiration, I can turn to a style that I know will work, and focus on getting the essence of my inspiration, rather than on the major design details. To represent the Egyptian serpent god Apep, I needed a necklace style that could represent both snakes and chaos. A herringbone rope would be perfect for the base, and the right fringe would add the perfect element of fierceness.

I knew right away that I wanted to include some vintage red white-hearts in this piece, so all I needed was the right palette to complement them. I decided on a combination of gold substitutes - transparent topaz, brown lined amber, and cream. Together, and with the right pattern, I thought these three colors would make for excellent snake skin, as well as provide a neutral background for the fiery red beads.

I added an increase in a twisted herringbone rope to include some of the white hearts, but that wasn’t nearly enough color. So when it came time to add the fringe - with Czech glass ovals and freshwater pearls - I also added a handful of white-hearts to each strand. I love the way the uneven shapes look together in a stack above the accent beads, as well as the overall look of three bead sizes in the strands. They add a little extra something to the fringe that fits the lord of chaos perfectly. I’ll definitely be keeping these elements in mind for future designs.

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