Les Graphiques, Multi-Pearl Torsade in Black, White and Gray

I love the whole idea of graphic black and white in jewelry. Black Tahitian pearls are so scarce, they're almost priceless and creamy white Japanese cultured pearls have been popular ever since Marie Antoinette wore a fabled strand, the one that Calvin Klein bought for his once-wife Kelly. That's a million dollar necklace. Well, Les Graphiques, is not all that expensive but it shares the same virtues of its more expensive sisters. This is a unique torsade. I've used five or six different kinds of black, gray and white pearls in all sorts of shapes, highlighted with crystal and silver roundels, but not in the colors you'd expect. There is some gray glitter (almost an oxymoron. Who ever thought gray glittered?) and some crystals the color of tanzanite, a furious blue-purple that seems to pick up the iridescent glint of the peacock pearls -- the deep gray-black ones. I made this necklace longer than the traditional 15-1/2 inch choker length to accommodate women who like longer pieces and larger women on whom 17-inches is choker length. The wearer can twist it to shorten it (hence the name "torsade" which means "twist") or let the individual strands fall where they may. Either way, when the light hits this beauty, it's all sparkle and class. Price: $600.00.