colored necklaces

The splendor of ancient Siam resurfaces through Tiraphan Hasub's jewelry. She designs a stunning chunky necklace with golden brass elephants flanking a waterfall of calcite gems dyed turquoise blue. The handcrafted necklace can fasten at one of two lengths.

A cascade of multicolored gemstones are hand strung by artisans under the direction of Thailand's Nareerat. This necklace features quartz, carnelian, and cultured freshwater pearl strands of graduated lengths in the form of polished chips and faceted beads, dazzling day or night. The silver-plated clasp attaches to an extender chain with a single quartz chip at the end.

Ghanaian artisan Harriet Faako Adjei designs this multicolor necklace in celebration of love. She calls her design Lorlornyo, meaning "love is good," in the Ewe language. Adjei threads chip-cut agates dyed in shades of orange, blue, cream, brown, and green with recycled glass beads, creating a waterfall pendant of dramatic elegance.

Designed with the rich color of ripe berries, Nareerat's waterfall necklace boasts an impressive array of glittering crimson jewels. Using silk thread, the Thai artisan wraps clusters of cultured freshwater pearl, garnet, and glass beads together, finishing the necklace with a sterling silver-plated clasp.

"There is strength in numbers," believes Ghanaian designer Akwele Suma as she designs this necklace. She rolls paper recycled from printed materials, creating a variety of shapes that together form an elegant composition. Suma selects a palette of colors that includes grey, cream, red, orange, purple, green,blue, black and brown. The necklace features sese wood beads and a brass clasp.

The artist uses the paper at hand so paper colors will vary, making each design a unique example of handcrafted art. These beads receive a protective coat of clear nail polish.