Green Ombré Earrings

October 2014
Jadeite, malachite, 14 karat gold

Although I don't do a lot of bead work, I do have a decent supply of semi-precious stone beads and occasionally look at them to inspire myself to think along tracks I don't usually follow; this tends to make the rest of my work more interesting as a result. I happened to fixate on three separate strands of beads—two different colors of jadeite and one strand of malachite—that were each individually salable, but whose gradation in color made a pleasant and even fade. I broke them apart to make these ombré-effect earrings, and strung them on 14k gold wire with gold beads on the top and bottom.