Beautiful Silver Necklaces

After being the distant relative to gold, silver jewelry is making a comeback in recent years. Its simplicity and the ability to mesh well with different skin tones and colors helped it along. Silver doesn?t make you look washed out the way gold does. It looks good with almost every one ? Caucasian, Asian or African American. It looks fresh and clean all the time. It complements people from all walks of life, ages and sex, but it doesn?t matter as this would just look perfect on almost everyone.

Beauty of Silver Necklaces

Silver jewelry comes in a variety of forms, but the most popular use of silver is necklaces. Silver necklaces come in variety of styles and designs, including curb, rope, box, snake, and cable. Some artisan creates silver chains in shapes like figure eight, alternating short and long links and double rope. Silver necklaces provide a very good complement for a pendant, locket or charm bracelet. It can be worn for understated elegance. A favorite is the silver beaded necklace. The beads enhance the necklace, so you would look good even from a distance.

Silver necklaces enhance your outfits by adding chic and color to them. With necklaces, you can also enhance your features and make you appear thinner by wearing a certain style of silver strand. For people with round faces, stay away from short necklaces. A long silver necklace can make you look thinner by drawing the attention to the length of the necklace and not to your rounded features.

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Making A Tri-Strand Beaded Necklace

If it's true that a cord of three strands is not quickly broken, this easy, tri-strand beaded necklace ought to last forever! The simple pattern is a dream to make, the perfect project for beginners, and yet it has an elegance and sophistication to it that beginner's projects typically lack.

To make the tri-strand beaded necklace, you'll need:

Craft thread (quilting thread works well if you don't have craft thread on hand)
A needle
A pair of sharp scissors
A necklace clasp, of any kind; I like to use the barrel closures
3 packages of 11/0 seed beads, or similar beads; I like 11/0 Rocaille beads, but any seed beads will work.

Once you've made the necklace, and gotten the hang of it, you may wish to experiment with different beads. For example, using three different sizes of seed pearls, with the smallest on top and the largest on bottom, gives a stunning layered look. Or, make two strands out of pearls and one out of cloisonn?. For now, however, stick to the simplest of beads forms; the seed bead, a fun, elegant, yet inexpensive choice.

A word about your needle: the eye should be large enough to thread easily, but small enough to slip through your beads. Always test the needle, by sliding it through two or three of the beads, to make sure that it fits easily through the hole.

To begin, cut three strands of your craft or quilting thread. One should be 21 inches, one should be 17 inches, and one should be 13 inches. You may wish to play around with these lengths once you've made this first necklace.

Gather the threads, with one end even, and attach the even ends to one half of your necklace clasp. I typically slip the threads through and tie them; a drop of glue on the knot adds strength. You should now have half a necklace clasp with three threads of three different lengths hanging from it.

Beginning with the shortest thread, the 13 inch, thread your needle and string your beads. Ideally, you should stop at least 2 inches short of the end of the thread; this will give you room to tie off your thread.

You want to be very careful at this stage. Without losing any of the beads, thread the end of the 13 inch strand through the second half of your necklace clasp, and tie it on. This will keep your beads from slipping off the smallest strand while you do the other two.

Repeat the procedure with the 17 inch and the 21 inch threads, again, stopping 2 inches short of the end and tying them onto the necklace clasp. Once each strand is finished, add a drop of glue to the second half of the clasp, just as you did to the first, to add strength to the knots.

When you're finished, you should have three swags of beads, roughly 18, 14, and 10 inches, respectively.

Because these necklaces are so simple and easy to make, they make great crafts for kids 8 and older, and great party favors or gifts. Teens can make and exchange these necklaces, and children will find they make great Mother's Day gifts. Children will probably want to work with larger beads, which are easier to work with. A nice 05/0 or 06/0 bead is generally best for kids 8-12, and some adults may prefer the larger sizes, as well! Tri-strand bead necklaces can be made with any kind of bead, in any kind of colors, and a pendant can be added to the lowest strand, making these the most versatile of all bead necklaces.

Article by webmaster of an information, advice and tips website about Charms and Things where you can be advised on how to choose different charms for your own charm bracelets

Buying Guide for a Mikimoto Pearl Necklace

The highest quality cultured pearl necklaces are those produced and created by Mikimoto. These pearls are known for their unparalleled beauty and brilliance. It is said that once you wear Mikimoto pearls, any other kind of pearl will seem second-rate. Mikimoto pearls are so refined in quality that its fans include the royal families of Britain and Japan, Marilyn Monroe and Monaco?s Princess Grace.

Here are some information on what Mikimoto cultured pearls are, where they came from and how to buy them.

How pearls are formed

A pearl is the result of an oyster or mollusks? reaction to an irritant that invades its shell. To try to protect itself, the mollusk secretes a crystalline substance called nacre which builds up in layers upon layers, surrounding the irritant. When this happens, a pearl is born.

Pearls have been cultured for centuries not just in Japan, but in other countries as well. Much of the products result to semispherical pearls, also called mabe pearls from the oyster that grew them, and not in the more coveted spherical pearls. It was Kokichi Mikimoto who developed a special technique to induce oysters to create a round pearl.

The man behind the name

Cultured pearls as we know them, owe a lot to Kokichi Mikimoto, the man who perfected the pearl culturing method that is still used today. Contrary to popular belief, he did not invent the industry although he did play a very significant role in advancing the techniques which contributed to the improvement in cultured pearl quality.

Mikimoto, the son of a noodle restaurant owner, was born in 1885 in Toba City, Japan. He was first introduced to pearls when he started raising oysters. Around this time, Japan was already trading pearls with other countries and pearl oysters were in danger of becoming over-harvested. Mikimoto decided to concentrate on experiments in seeding oysters and producing pearls.

The first endeavors were failures. Mikimoto and his colleagues repeatedly encountered disappointing results, due in part to uncontrollable factors like water temperature and red tide. But this did nothing to dissuade Mikimoto from his dream.

His efforts paid off eventually. On July 11, 1893, with his wife Ume, he discovered a beautiful pearl in one of his oysters. He never looked back since. By the time he died in 1954, the highly honored Mikimoto had successfully advocated and promoted cultured pearls and opened markets all over the world. Today, his name is synonymous to the highest quality cultured pearls.

Buying your Mikimoto pearl necklace

Pearl necklaces come in several lengths. From the shortest to the longest, they are: collar (10?-13?), choker (14?-16?), princess (18?-20?), matinee (20?-24?), opera (28?-34?) and rope (37? and longer). The length of the pearl necklace will depend on the woman?s age, body composition and neck size, although an 18 to 24-inch pearl necklace is a good length for anyone. Generally speaking, the longer the necklace, the more it ?elongates? the neck.

The mark of ?M?

Every jewelry created by Mikimoto including pearl necklaces, has an ?M? stamped on its setting. This is a guarantee of quality. However, in some cases, the mark of ?M? will only guarantee that the setting is genuine and not the pearls, which can be replaced and restrung.

A caveat: there is a black market for Mikimoto clasps, where original Mikimoto clasps are used for cheaper or imitation-quality pearls. Beware also of ?closeout? Mikimoto sales, even if they come in ?new? 18k gold.

The best way to distinguish a true high-quality Mikimoto pearl from other pearls is to look for a unique road map or line pattern on the surface of the pearls under a 10x magnifying lens. Experienced jewelers can recognize this. On your own, you will want to find genuine Mikimoto pearls to compare with your intended purchase. Once you see the difference, true Mikimoto pearls are easily recognizable.

You might also encounter pearl necklaces that are labeled ?Mikimoto quality?. This is misleading. These are not pearls produced under the patented Mikimoto process. True Mikimoto pearl necklaces are those produced under stringent conditions in Ise in Honshu, Japan.

Akoya vs. Mikimoto

Another fine quality pearl is akoya pearls, although this is a general term used to refer to saltwater pearls. These are not Mikimoto pearls and they don?t cost the same.

Grading method

Mikimoto pearls are rated using four grades, with AAA being the highest. There are 4 sub-grades starting with AAA1. Highest-grade pearls are those with the best luster and reflective quality, almost mirror-like, while lower-grade pearls are those with reasonably clear reflection.

When buying your Mikimoto pearl necklace, be sure to ask for grading certificates. This is not only good for insurance, but it is also a guarantee that what you are paying for is a true Mikimoto pearl necklace.

For more information go to: http://www.unlimitedpearls.com, http://www.bestpearlnecklaces.com, or http://www.bestpearlearrings.com

Glow Necklaces

Glow necklaces are ornaments which glow in the dark and have a special attraction. The glow of a glow necklace lasts for few hours. Glow necklaces are made in gold and platinum sometimes, and are very famous all over the world. Purchasing gold ornaments involves a lot of investment. 24 carat gold is considered to be the best gold, but it is not useful for making ornaments as it is soft gold. The gold ornaments are very expensive depending on the gold used and the intrinsic work done. Glow necklaces are available in various colors and are available at economical rates.

Glow necklaces are an extended form of glow bracelets. They are just of a bigger size than the glow bracelets. The glow necklaces are made of flexible plastics. They need no wiring and they work via reactive chemicals. They are non-toxic and non-flammable.

Glow necklaces are available at cheap rates. Children in parties commonly use them for fun. As they are durable, they can be used for hours. This glow is due to a chemical process known as chemiluminescences, which emits light. During this process, electrons in the normal level produce energy in the form of light.

Glow necklaces are available in “premium” and “superior” quality. Premium quality glow necklaces glow for about 6 to 24 hours, while superior quality glow necklaces glow for 8 to 48 hours. They are available in 6mm and 5mm diameters. The 6mm glow necklaces are brighter than 5 mm glow necklaces by 25%.

They are available in nice packaging and pretty colors. Glow necklaces are available in pink, orange, red, green, yellow, blue and white colors. The pink, orange and red are made by using tinted colors, whereas the green, yellow, blue and white colors are made by using clear castings. They are also available in tri colors: green-red-blue, green-yellow-blue and red-white-blue.

The superior quality glow necklaces are available at $100 and the premium quality necklaces are available at $20 for 50 pieces. Being of a branded quality, they are worn in special events and occasions. The glow depends on the quality and the composition they have inside.

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