Why We Love This Tutorial:
The gorgeous new Baroque Rectangle Pearls are definitely the hero of this design – how stunning are they?! We made this into a layered style necklace – there are actually two completely separate necklaces. The Amazonite and pearl necklace has a toggle clasp closure at the front, while the dainty chain and pearl necklace has a lobster clasp closure at the back.This necklace is designed to sit very high up – not quite a choker style, but still quite short! It turned out to be 38cm for the Amazonite + Pearl necklace, and 34cm for the dainty chain necklace. You may wish to adjust this for your own sizing.
Please note: in addition to the exact products we have used in this tutorial, we have also added a link to several product options that would work just as well (in case the exact products have sold out!). Our range of pearls, gemstones and specialty findings change frequently 🙂
Beads and Materials You’ll Need:
Gemstone & Pearl Necklace:
- Small Gemstone Beads around 4mm in size. (We have used Amazonite 2×4.5mm rondelle beads). We also have 2×4.5mm rondelles available in other gemstone types. We have only used one strand, but had only a couple of beads left over. If you would like a longer necklace, you would probably need two strands.
- Large Baroque pearl (we have used a Baroque Rectangle Pearl). Any large baroque pearl would work just fine for the drop.
- 4mm Gold Spacer Beads. (We have used a 4mm Gold Wheel.) Any 4mm gold spacer bead would also work.
- 2x Crimps
- Toggle clasp of your choice (we’ve used a tarnish resistant gold rope style toggle clasp). Here’s a link to all the other tarnish resistant gold toggle clasps.
- 1x 4mm gold jump ring
- Tiger Tail (we used 0.38mm)
- 1x gold headpin 50mm (we used 18k gold plated brass headpins).
Dainty Chain & Pearl Necklace:
- Small Freshwater Pearls approx. 5mm to 7mm long. (We have used small long nugget pearls 6-7mm). Any small pearl under 7mm would work.
- Gold fine chain necklace. (We have used a fine 1.5mm belcher style necklace.) But any fine gold chain necklace would work (but not a snake chain).
- 26ga Gold wire (at the time of writing I would recommend the beadsmith craft wire, as the colour matches the chain best).
Tools You’ll Need:
- Bent or Flat Nose pliers (for crimping)
- Round Nose Pliers (for making the pearl connectors. I like the three in one pliers for this, as the ends of the tips are particularly fine)
- Flush Cutters
- Scissors (for cutting tiger tail – never use pliers for this!)
Method (Amazonite + Baroque Pearl Necklace):
- Cut your tigertail to your desired length. Attach the round half of your toggle to the tigertail using a crimp.
- Thread on your beads, starting off with a gold spacer bead. We have used 15 Amazonite rondelles per section, each separated with a gold spacer.
- Take the bar section of your toggle, and attach a 4mm jump ring to the loop. This jump ring allows the necklace to hang evenly when done up.
- Finish the necklace off using another crimp, but this time don’t attach directly onto the toggle. Instead, attach the tigertail to the 4mm jump ring.
- Make the baroque pearl dangle: take a headpin, and slide on the pearl. We are making a wrapped loop directly onto the round half of the toggle (this makes it very secure and unable to fall off!). If you are unfamiliar with making wrapped loops, please see this previous tutorial that explains wrapped loops in detail (will open in a new tab).
Method (Dainty Chain & Pearl Necklace):
- We have used a ready made gold chain necklace in this design, and simply cut it up to add in the pearl connectors. We have cut 8 lengths of 3cm chain (including one length that has the lobster clasp attached, and one length that has the extension chain attached).
- Using your 26ga wire, make wrapped loops directly onto the chain (this chain is welded so you must wrap your loop onto each section and progress that way).
- Join each 3cm section of chain to the previous using a wrapped pearl link.
- The clasp and extension chain are already attached, so once all your sections are joined up, you’re finished!
