Jewelry Makeover - Episode 3 - Malchite and Silver

This is the third in my series of taking old jewelry 'mistakes' and remaking them. These items include jewelry I made when I was first starting to bead, 9 years ago, or things that have simply been in many, many shows, or items that scream "What were you thinking?"To see the first in the series click here.

The article is for a necklace I made using beautiful components - Malachite gemstones and a large Hill Tribe Silver pendant. While the individual pieces were stunning - the end result just didn't do them justice.

Here is the before photo:

The beautiful dark green Malachite was set off with lighter green aventurine. There was a small bit of silver breaking it up. The necklace is shorter - meant to be worn above a shirt neckline - but it left it a bit bulky and heavy looking.

I cut the necklace apart and made the following necklace. I accidentally grabbed a square/diamond Hill Tribe silver pendant that was lying on the table instead of using the original round one - but the look is basically the same.

The top part of the necklace is a double strand of 2-toned Myuki seed beads (glass) in a green/tan combo. It lightens up the green of the Malachite and makes the entire necklace lighter around the face, keeping the focus lower on the gemstones and beads. It also makes it lighter 'feeling' to wear.

Here's another view of the necklace.

Hopefully you'll agree with me that the new design is better - but I would appreciate your comments either way.

If you enjoy these before and after articles please consider sharing my blog on twitter, facebook etc. I look forward to your comments.