South Africa with Love

Long and dramatic, this elegant necklace will bring color and energy to your day and uplift your mood helping to lighten even the darkest situations. Beautiful and vibrant colors accented by Bali sterling silver components and a stunning ornate cross pendant make for a magnificent piece of artisan jewelry.

The deep violet beads are carved from the gemstone sugilite, a rare stone found primarily in South Africa. These beads can range from light lavender to dark purple and will vary from necklace to necklace. Although I don’t put much stock into the "meaning" of stones, sugilite is interesting in that it is considered an important love stone. It represents spiritual love and wisdom, alleviating tension and disappointment with its beautiful purple rays, bringing healing with love. That would be wonderful, but at least it could probably bring some happiness and cheeriness to your day!

Measuring two and a half inches long, the cross pendant is sterling silver with marcasite, or white iron pyrite detailing. It is inlaid with five separate stones of amethyst, blue topaz, citrine, garnet and peridot. Marcasite jewelry became popular in Victorian times and this cross definitely adds old world charm to this overall modern neckpiece.

I added the red, gold, and green beads to be consistent with the South African theme as these colors are the official Pan-African colors based on the Ethiopian flag originating from the Rastafari movement. The red is sponge coral, the gold is faceted butterscotch agate, and the green is serpentine, commonly referred to as yellow turquoise.

The ornate silver beads and cones are handcrafted in Bali from sterling silver, while the matte polished silver pebble-shaped beads are actually cast pewter beads. This handcrafted art necklace closes with a simple, but beautiful handmade and hammered sterling silver S-hook clasp and can be adjusted from 29-32" in length.

You may also be interested in the ornate bracelet I made to accompany this artisan necklace.