Van Craeynest necklace chain

[cookies]

I've been talking to Van Craeynest about having a necklace chain made, and just got some concrete idea from Larry. It sounds beautiful but I need some reassurance from you guys, because I have very limited imagination and creativity skills.

So I wanted a red/rose gold necklace chain that could be worn on a daily basis, without a pendant. I think 18'' will be a good length, and want it to be adjustable to 17'' and 16'' (just in case I want to wear it shorter and/or add a pendant later).

The design is based on the VC column band, 920, which is about 2mm wide and 2mm thick. The chain will have multiple segments in 14K red gold. Each segment will have two columns. The segments will be connected together by small rings. On the back of each segment, where it meets the skin, a 2mm wide platinum plate will be attached, and some small diamonds will be bead set in the plate. The plate will be somewhat plain, but with millgrain along the edge, and the overall shape will be like a boat shape (like VC band 484, I think). VC will make the columns 2mm wide, and a little less than 2mm thick, so after the back plate is attached, the overall thickness will become 2mm.

I was wondering, is this going to be too blingy, or too thick, too heavy looking? What do you guys think? Which design aspects would you change, if it were your chain? I am in my late 20's, if that matters..

Here are some pictures of the bands 920 and 484. Love In Bloom, I hope you don't mind me borrowing your picture.

 

[Mrs.W 514]

I love both of those bands but I am having a hard time picturing the necklace. Do you have a cad picture or drawing from VC?

 

[distracts]

I love the column band but I too am not understanding exactly what you mean with the platinum plates and diamonds. A drawing would be helpful!

 

[cookies]

Mrs. W 514 and distracts, I am sorry for the confusion. I do have one sketch. I didn't attach it originally because it's pretty coarse and not final, but here it is. It shows the overall layout. The rectangle (the one with holes) is the back platinum plate, and the diamonds will sit in these holes. I imagine the table of the diamonds will face my skin and maybe even kind of touch it.



Larry estimated that the entire chain would weigh 2.3~2.5 ounces or so. Is that really really heavy? I only have some really skinny chains, which might only weigh 5 grams or less. I don't know if my neck can handle 2.5 ounces. I am have a petite frame too.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Oh, Cookie, this is kind of a scary project to me! You are much more brave than I am to create something totally new that they haven't made before!

The most beautiful antique style necklace I have seen is this one:

http://www.victorcanera.com/jewelry/necklaces/art-deco-rose-cut-diamond-chain.html (see the video below the picture)

I just wish I could afford it!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Why are the diamonds going to be on the back?

 

[cookies]

If the diamonds are on the back, you will see lots of sparkles when the segments rotate. I imagine the rotation happens quite often throughout the day.

I do feel a little scared! It's hard to imagine the overall look on me. The weight (2.5 ounces?) might be an issue too. Larry said he had made much heavier necklaces before, including a really long/heavy one for his wife. But I don't know if these ladies wear theirs frequently. I want to be able to wear mine often, without causing any neck/back/shoulder problems.

DS, that Art Deco chain is gorgeous. I just bookmarked it.

 

[Mrs.W 514]

I highly doubt 2.5 oz of weight would cause back and neck problems unless you already have severe back and neck issues, so don't worry there.
I really like the idea of the links that look like the 920 band (its one of my all time favorites ). I think a chain like you are talking about will be an absolute work of art!

I am not particularly in love with idea of the diamonds on the back of the links. It seems like a lot of extra money to spend on diamonds and platinum that you will only see when the chain flips. I have noticed any stones I wear against my skin tend to get dirty a lot faster (earrings and necklaces mostly) and it drives me crazy. It might not be as sparkly as you are hoping for, especially since you are wanting to wear this piece frequently. Maybe for some sparkle you could add diamonds between the scrolls in the small square part of the design...french cuts perhaps

edit: omitting the extra metal on the back would also reduce the weight of the piece if you are are still worried about that.

 

[cookies]

Mrs. W 514, thank you so much for the suggestions. I talked to Larry yesterday, and realized there was some miscommunication about the weight. I think the estimate of 2.5oz was the raw metal weight, i.e. before die-striking, carving, etc. Larry said the finished necklace probably would be around 1oz, which I believe my neck can handle. For the back plate, he is also doing a mockup model in silver, so we can see how it looks, before proceeding to make the real thing.

Another intereting problem came up during our discussion. It's about the rings that connect the two 14K red gold segments together. Initially, I assumed the rings would be in the same metal as the segments, i.e. 14K red gold, but I asked Larry just to confirm, and I am glad I did. Larry suggested using 18K yellow gold for the rings, because it's easier to bend 18K ＹＧ into a ring shape, AND easier to solder the 18K YG ring to the 14K red gold segments (without risk melting the 14K red gold), AND the YG won't stand out much because the rings are small (the diamter will be about 0.6mm, and the wire itself will be about 0.9mm thick). Also, if I remember correctly, the reason VC didn't want to use 14K/18K RG is, it's less ductile than YG and might crack during the bending process.

My initial reaction is, I don't want to introduce another metal color into the design, because we already have 14K red gold in the front and platinum in the back. So I said, I'd prefer to use RG or Plat for the rings, or maybe even white gold (because it's white), but no YG please. Larry said they can experiment with various metals, and see which one works the best.

However, after sleeping on this for one night, I am starting to think maybe white rings (WG or Plat) will look weird with red gold segments, and maybe YG rings will look better with RG. What do you guys think? I still have time to change my mind, but I need to make up my mind..

 

[Circe]

Oh, this sounds SO COOL - I love that pattern. And how wonderful to get a custom piece done with a new die!

Given that I can be kind of OCD, I think it would bug me if a section flipped and had a different back (especially as they're likely to do this randomly, and not in any kind of sequence). It would also bug me as the diamonds invariably got dirty, but I know lots of people love DBTYs, and that's just me.

But ... have you thought of making the reverse the same as the front, and putting the diamonds in the groove? Alleviates both issues. Or asking for the scroll to be "rounded" so it rolls rather than flips? Or, alternately, of making it fairly short? I have a fifteen inch gold panel necklace, and the sections are weighted so they never flip. Will attach a pic ....

 

[VRBeauty]

I agree with Circe that a 360 design would be ideal.

One other thing to think about is the length, since I assume you want this to be a "forever" necklace. There will come a time when your minimum acceptable necklace length will be 20" - just trust me on this. So I'd make sure the design will allow you to adapt to a longer length (by adding plain links - or maybe diamond stations?) when that time comes.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

I have a gold chain that is VERY heavy. I love and hate it for that reason. You will notice the weight.

cheers--Sharon

 

[cookies]

Sharon, may I ask how heavy your gold chain weighs? Mine is estimated to weigh 1 oz or so.

VRBeauty, thank you for the suggestion. The length will be adjustable, with clasps. I asked for 18'' to 17'' to 16'', because I am petite, and I cannot imagine myself wearing 20'' right now, plus the chain is quite delicate. It's only 2mm wide, and visually it might look only like 1mm - 1.5mm because of the carving. But like you said, I am still young, and my taste/life style might change over time. May I ask under what circumstances you wear 20'' or longer? Would you mind sharing a few specific examples?

Circe, your necklace is beautiful! How long is it? And thank you for the suggestions! I did think about doing 920 in the back. Actually, Larry's initial suggestion was to do something similar to what you suggested. He suggested doing 927 and 911 back to back (both bands have 5 flowers evenly spaced out). I thought that would look great. Then Larry decided he didn't like it, because there would be 4 sides total, and only 2 sides (the front and the back) would have flowers, while the other 2 sides would be kind of unsightly. So he suggested doing something different in the back, and using 920 instead in the front, because the flowers in 911/927 look kind of far away from each other, and 920 solves that problem. (There are 8 columns in 920 vs. 5 flowers in 911/927.) He is making a silver mockup model right now, as we speak. I am curious to see how it looks, as I really don't know if I will like it. If for some reason I don't like it, then I guess I'd ask to do 920 in the back..

What do you guys think about the metal color for the rings that connect the two segments? Larry suggested 18K yellow gold, and he would also try experimenting white metals. But I am just not sure if I want to mix colors in the front. I started a poll here:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/poll-which-metal-color-for-rings.180350/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/poll-which-metal-color-for-rings.180350/[/URL]

 

[canuk-gal]

Sharon, may I ask how heavy your gold chain weighs? Mine is estimated to weigh 1 oz or so.

Have a couple of pieces--necklaces and bracelets, 18 and 24K: 56-65 gms each. So just under and over 2 ounces. I am not suggesting my pieces are uncomfortable, but noticeably heavy.


I bet Rosetta and others have some weighty pieces. Perhaps they can chime in on comfort level.

Remember, JMHO.

cheres--Sharon

 

[VRBeauty]

Sharon, may I ask how heavy your gold chain weighs? Mine is estimated to weigh 1 oz or so.

VRBeauty, thank you for the suggestion. The length will be adjustable, with clasps. I asked for 18'' to 17'' to 16'', because I am petite, and I cannot imagine myself wearing 20'' right now, plus the chain is quite delicate. It's only 2mm wide, and visually it might look only like 1mm - 1.5mm because of the carving. But like you said, I am still young, and my taste/life style might change over time. May I ask under what circumstances you wear 20'' or longer? Would you mind sharing a few specific examples?

Cookie - for me, a shorter chain would work well with a bare neck or open neckline. 18' tends to be a bit short for wearing over clothing - I like 20' or longer for that. Of course my neck might be chunkier than yours too, so your 16' might be my 17'! Also, as I get older, choker-ish chains just don't look good on me anymore. Part of that's due to a physical changes, but part is also that the choker length just feels too young to me.