I was recently asked to make a necklace for a client, that would combine two raw strands together, and demanded that they be regraduated and knotted. The beads are excellent quality red Mediterranean coral, and I chose to knot them with silk. Although silk is fussy to knot, it provides the most luxurious drape and the best effect. The necklace was to be long enough that the owner could wear it often doubled. Consequently, the largest beads were placed in a graduated sequence at opposite ends of the composition.

A tricky aspect that is hard to appreciate in my photos is the the outer strand seen here graduates from largest to smallest, and is a slightly darker tone than the inner strand, that is slightly lighter and practically ungraduated. Placing the larger darker beads at opposite ends of the necklace, the wearer has the larger and darker beads to the front, and the smaller and lighter beads to the back.

This first shot is the original layout as I received the beads, with a little experiment to see how many strands of silk I would need to make a good sized knot. (I chose seven strands doubled, or fourteen strands.)

The second shot shows the layout of the beads as I have sequenced them to be knotted. You can see there was a single bead left over.

More to come....

Jamey