The Blue Lace Agate Outline Necklace. Made from hallmarked, cast Sterling Silver and set with a huge piece of raw Blue Lace Agate. The pendant is strung on blue silk with Blue Lace Agate beads and finished with a Starfish (set with a small White Topaz) and Swan’s neck clasp at the back.

This was my first attempt at making a pendant using the lost wax process. This process starts with hard wax and manipulating it into the shape you want. I used a variety of tools including a hot knife to melt areas together and a scalpel to make finer shapes.

The piece of raw Blue Lace Agate I had bought about a week earlier at the Brighton Mineral Show. I felt it would make a superb statement piece as even though it is not a finished gem it is covered in sparkles. Plus, I loved the stripe that ran through it.

So after about a whole day of playing with the shape in wax to hold the piece of Agate and I took it along to Paul Townsend (who I had been recommended to for casting wax to silver), and a week later the silver came back to me. It was exciting to see the cast silver and then refine it so that the piece of agate would sit securely into it.

Once that was done, I decided that it needed more then just a silver chain, it should be adorned by further colour – so Blue Lace Agate beads were sourced and that is how it finished up.

This beaded chain hangs the pendant 450mm down the front. The pendant is 100mm tall, 75mm wide and 25mm deep.

SPECIFICATION

Metal: Hallmarked cast Sterling Silver
Stones: Raw and Beads of Blue Lace Agate, White Topaz