Beautifully crafted with antiqued Sterling Silver, this necklace features ancient shards of Roman Glass and recycled cobalt blue glass beads from Africa. At the center of the piece is a silver disc that I hammered, oxidized, and drilled, to provide the perfect joining link to the other elements.
The Ancient Roman glass shards vary in color from aqua to teal, with one piece of rare cobalt blue. Most of the pieces have some degree of calcification, and some have an iridescence that adds even more interest. I don't know the history of these particular beads, but judging from other strands I have, I'd guess that they're at least 900 years old.
Each Roman glass piece is wired to a link made from Sterling Silver, tiny ancient glass spacers, and the blue recycled African glass. This Fair Trade glass is made by tribes in Africa, by grinding recycled glass into a fine powder, putting it into mud or porcelain molds, and firing it in a kiln at high heat. Each bead is different from the next, as are the ancient glass pieces, giving this necklace a rustic, organic, tribal look.
I've taken a lot of pictures to provide closeup views of the glass, so you should get a pretty fair idea of what each piece looks like.
The pendant focal point is made from a gorgeous piece of teal ancient glass, with a small dangle beneath that is made with a cobalt blue coin shaped piece of ancient glass, with a tiny blue-teal disc of glass on top.
The chain is finished with my handcrafted sterling clasp that has been hammered and tumbled for hardness and security. Both ends of the clasp are wired to a length of sterling silver cable link chain with a handmade link of sterling silver and ancient Roman glass spacers.
*The overall length of the necklace is 24" (61cm) from the end of the handmade clasp to the clasp ring.
* Pendant hangs 2.25" (5.7cm) from bottom of the Sterling disc.
* Ancient glass beads on station chain = .75" (1.9cm) - 1" (2.5cm)
* Ancient glass beads on pendant = 1/8" (.32cm) -1 1/8" (2.8cm)
* Recycled African glass beads = approx .25" (6.35mm) Sizes vary from bead to bead.
All of the oxidized metal is sterling silver that I darkened by adding a patina, and then carefully hand polished with a jeweler's polishing pad. For contrast, I connected the dark links to each other with a bright, highly polished ring.
PLEASE NOTE: These beads are glass! I've never broken one, but I treat them with care. I can't promise that dropping them on a hard surface won't damage them, so please take extra care when putting them away, etc.
SB764
ANCIENT ROMAN GLASS RECYCLED AFRICAN GLASS NECKLACE listed in:
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, Ancient, Vintage, Antique Glass