Capiz

Intense is the best word to describe this vivid and dramatic double strand necklace featuring a brightly painted capiz shell pendant. Everything about this piece is bold and lush with only the brass tones and suede cord providing a little subtlety to balance this full volume Van Goghesque composition. Brilliant hues of orange, yellow, blue and green mingle with the silver and brass components in this piece creating a single harmonious geometrically designed piece of handmade artisan jewelry.

Capiz is a province of the Philippines which got its name from the word "kapis," a shell of the mollusk family found abundantly in the shallow coastal waters of the Philippines. Along with being called "the seafood capital of the Philippines," Capiz has become known for these iridescent shells that are commonly used as interior decoration in the form of wall panels, lamp-shades, curtains, and other small accessories. The beautiful donut-shaped pendant in this neckpiece was hand-painted in the Philippines and as it is made of a natural material and individually painted by hand, there will be slight variations in each pendant.

The bright blue nuggets are turquoise-colored howlite, a gemstone that is naturally white, but is soft and porous being easily dyed into many colors. It is named after mineralogist Henry How who first discovered howlite in Nova Scotia during the 19th century. North America is the world’s primary source of howlite. The semi-transparent yellow beads are natural agate dyed to obtain these warm yellow hues. The gorgeous green-yellow rectangle beads are made of turquoise from China’s Hubei province. The large etched silver beads are actually terra cotta from Greece that is kiln-fired, coated with 100% pure silver and then antiqued. All of the other silver beads are sterling silver beads from Bali. The squarish brass beads are from Africa and the round ones are just solid raw brass.

An earthy orange wood ring and a piece of recycled exotic wood from the forest floor make up the unique toggle-style clasp. This fantastic neckpiece is about 22 inches in length, with the pendant portion adding an additional 5 inches. Capiz is part of our Intense Color Collection which can viewed by clicking on the links to the left.