Jewelry design: Five-stone wrap necklace

November 6, 12:31 AMDenver Jewelry ExaminerLorraine Yapps Cohen

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Five-stone petrified wood necklace finished with mauve freshwater pearls in gold.  Design by Lorraine Yapps Cohen. 

In a previous article, I described how to make a simple wire wrap. The wire wrap unit has two functions: it holds the stone, and it provides the linkage to other stones.

The wire wrap is the foundation of all wire wrap jewelry. When modifications are made to the simple wire wrap, stones of all sizes can be accommodated by the wrap. Small pearls to sizeable gemstone specimens can employ the wire wrap, to hold the stones where they create the desired design.

Traditional wire wrapping uses a thin wire. When the wrap is made with thick wire, large stones can be set, to serve as a pendant or the featured stone in the center of the necklace.

The five-stone wrap necklace employs five wire-wrapped gemstone specimens. The simple wire-wrap technique is further employed for links between the five stones. There, the wire is thinner and the stones are smaller. Add a clasp to the ends and, wah laa, you have a stunning five-stone wire-wrapped necklace!

You may ask, “why five?” It will always be an odd number of stones in a necklace. Go ahead, go to your jewelry box and count the pearls in your pearl necklace, the beads in your beaded design, or the stones in your chunky funky strand. If it's a well designed piece, the number of stones will be odd.  Five medium-size gemstones, when wrapped and linked with a small stone or pearl, yield a necklace of just the right balance.  The fifth stone must be there, bringing focus to the center with continuity created by the other four.

The five-stone wrap design can accommodate practically any stone specimen: polished or rough; geometric or crystalline shapes; small to medium sizes. Should the stones be large and weighty, putting five in a necklace might make it too heavy. That’s the single concern in the five-wrap necklace design. Putting this one matter aside, the five-stone design yields a stunning and unique necklace every time!

I introduced my five-stone necklace designs recently with pastel-colored petrified wood specimens, as pictured, and tri-color fluorite, at Sorrel Sky Gallery, Durango, Colorado. Custom-made five-stone designs can be created for you. E-mail me with your ideas. 

Lorraine is a jewelry designer and writes on various gemstone and jewelry topics.  See related articles HERE.  Don't miss any more jewelry design news.  Subscribe to alerts on upcoming articles.