Vintage Style Jewelry 3 Ways

One of my latest jewelry designs combines vintage inspiration from jewelry components and modern ideas about how a jewelry piece is worn. Whenever possible, I try to create jewelry pieces that can be worn a few different ways. This project, Vintage Inspired Jet Crystal Necklace, is part of Artbeads.com's latest bead blogger challenge and can be worn three different ways.

For example, this toggle clasp is a base metal component, but it has a distinctive vintage style to it. So one way to wear this piece is to show the toggle on the side of the necklace and thus making it part of the design rather than hiding it behind your neck when you wear it.

If you prefer to wear the necklace in a more traditional way, then that's fine. You can also move the toggle to the back, and then the square lampwork bead is positioned more to the center of the necklace.

Finally, the third way to wear the necklace is to make an attachable goddess pendant from a brass stamping and copper wire. Then you can slip the pendant between beads anywhere on the necklace and get a different look.

Beautiful fire-polished Czech jet beads with a twilight finish make up most of the necklace, so again, since jet beads were a favorite during Victorian times, this also connects to the vintage theme of the project. I have to say, too, that I don't think I've ever used beads with this type of finish, and they are now a new favorite of mine. They are dark like most jet beads but have a sort of purplish-blue hue to them as well.