Everyone in my family has a chainmaille bracelet. My daughter calls us the “chain gang.” When we go anywhere together, we always make sure we’re wearing our jewelry.
The Chain Gang
- Me: Full Persian in sterling silver
- Wife: JPL (petite) in gold fill, Elfweave in sterling silver, Byzantine in sterling silver with gold fill mobius coils
(She gets a lot of jewelry…because she’s my wife.) - Daughter: JPL in sterling silver with a gold fill byzantine knot
- Son: JPL in sterling silver (We put it around his ankle because he’s still a baby.)
Birthday Present
My daughter just turned 17 years old. Among other “boring” gifts, such as clothes and girly cosmetic stuff, we wanted to make her something special. My wife and I talked about designs and decided to make a necklace that would make a matching set with her bracelet.
Here’s what we came up with:
(Sorry for the crappy first picture. When highly polished, sterling silver in the sunshine is hard to photograph. It’s just too dang shiny!)
About the Design
The necklace length is just a bit over 16 inches. The main chain is JPL is sterling silver (18 gauge wire, 3 mm inner diameter rings). My wife did that part. The gold accent has two Byzantine knots, which match her bracelet, with a 4-ring mobius coil in the center. I welded the rings around the clasp, rings in the mobius coil, and rings connecting the centerpiece to the chain. It should last a lifetime, and if it doesn’t, I know a guy who can fix it.
A single Byzantine knot, like in her bracelet, didn’t seem to be enough of a centerpiece accent for a necklace, which is why we decided on this design instead.
Here’s an image of the necklace and bracelet together.
Success!
My daughter loves it. (Phew!) She says she will wear it every day, which is about how often she wears the bracelet. She is a fairly petite girl herself, and at 16 inches, the necklace hangs perfectly for her, neither high up against her neck nor dangling down too low–stylish and beautiful without being sexy. Perfect for her.
Happy birthday, daughter!
