The story behind this Agate drop necklace.
As some of you know – I accept commissions for custom pieces. And this necklace is one of those commissions. I originally posted these Agate drops on my personal Facebook page for sale, as I didn’t know what to do with them. A friend of mine spotted these and really liked them – and asked me to make a necklace with them. She had a firm idea as to what she wanted and showed me a photo of a floating type necklace with coloured discs.
To get a better idea of what she wanted I created a test piece with three drops spread out at about an inch apart and another one which was on a softer wire and also spread out to give her an idea about the type of wire and the gaps between the drops. I also confirmed other details with her such as what type of clasp she wanted (a simple lobster clasp). The next step was estimating the costs and sorting out the commission contract.
Once initial payment arrived I started to work and gave her further options of the design.
Would she like silver lined seed beads next to the drops – or rather silver plated beads? And how many drops in total would she like? I sent her photos of the various options – one with silver beads, one with seed beads and three further images of the design with 7, 9 and 12 drops. We both agreed that 7 would look best with silver plated beads. She also wanted matching earrings. As I didn’t have any bails to hang them on I made them with square silver plated wire which I twisted with a wire twister (yes such tools exist).
Before finishing off the necklace I sent her another photo to confirm if she was happy with the design. All these photos were done in daylight – so not the best quality. Once finished I also took photos in my light tent and sent them to her.
A day after I sent her the necklace she posted a photo of herself wearing it. And this is what she said about the necklace and the service she received.
“I asked Helen to design me a necklace using beads I’d seen and liked on her website. I had quite a clear vision for what I wanted and she agreed she could make what I wanted and offered to make me some matching earrings.
She communicated with me frequently throughout the design process offering alternatives and using photos to illustrate the options. She gave me quotes for the work ahead of time. She worked diligently and in a very timely fashion keeping me updated as she went.
I was delighted with the finished pieces which she packaged beautifully and sent by secure post. I was very happy throughout the entire process and Helen finished the necklace and earrings to a very high standard. I would have no hesitation recommending Helen for her work, design and collaborative approach and the excellent quality of her jewellery. I’ll be keeping an eye out on her website for other items I might fancy.”
Siobhan O’Neill
I love happy customers – they make it all worthwhile.
By the way – I still have five of these beads left and you can find earrings made with them in my shop here.
I hope you enjoyed this post. Thanks for reading. Leave a comment below if you like.
