When I started beading some years ago, I made not-so-good ones and better ones. Haven’t we all done just that? Beading is a process of learning. I took a good look at those prettier ones and tried to figure out why they look better than others. One question has haunted me over the years: What is the secret to a beautiful necklace? If you were asked that question, what would you say? Beauty, rhythm, harmony? They are all underlying qualities but unfortunately they are all something we know but only notice when we see them. I wanted more tangible answers, something to put my finger on. I found out that the answer lies in details.
Left: Classic stars and servants example with 8 mm beads and size 10 seed beads. Middle: Gold and bright blue are opposite colors like silver and black. Right: 8 mm and 6 mm stars with size 9 servants.
Stars and servants: The beads in a necklace want to be treated like stars. To make a lovely appearance you’ll need two types of beads. The stars are those you want to bring out and servants are beads whose purpose is to let the stars shine. A suitable servant is something that goes unnoticed, they just make a small space between each star bead. I often use size 11 seed beads that are same or a bit darker color than stars. Like in real life, servants are small and on the background but these stars couldn’t manage without their existence whereas seed beads are fine among other seed beads.
Spacers: Like servants, spacers are smaller beads between bigger ones. Big difference is that spacers are meant to be noticed. They are completely opposite color than bigger ones. You could say that the beads complete each. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In primary color charts you can find opposite colors that are just these opposites. The reason why they are called opposite colors is that they are on the opposite sides of the color wheel. Go by the book and you can’t go wrong, primary colors are one of the eternal truths in life.
Crystal beads without and without a cap (which is techically a spacer but works as a cap here).
In my old stash of finished pieces I found a good example. One end is with a crimp bead cover and short loop, the other one with a cover and with a too long loop. I’m not satisfied with it these days.
Finishing touch: For a long time I thought caps, crimp bead covers and other finishing items are not necessary. As my skills grew, I came to a point where a necklace itself looked really nice and shiny but finishing looked clumsy next to it. I had too long ending loops, no crimp bead covers and it brought the whole necklace down. The jewelry is as good as its ugliest link.
Using bead caps, stylish spacers and all, that is more than covering the ugly parts. It upgrades your jewelry and adds some attention to it. Well-matched bead caps are like a servant that lets your bead shine.
In the end, it’s you that shine when people compliment your jewelry.
