Funky Turquoise Bead Necklace. Creating oddball interesting combinations in a bead necklace such as the above is a time-consuming exercise; fun, but on a different level to putting together Pearl strands.
The Turquoise is natural, untreated, said to originate in the region of north-west Afghanistan bordering on Iran; the cut of the seven Turquoise beads is definitely inspired by the cut of ancient Turquoise in beads excavated in that “Bactrian” area. Included in the above necklace are a dozen old gem-quality Corals from Sth India, and four opaque tumble-polished Ruby beads flanking the two Corals at mid-point of the strand. (The opaque Rubies are from Thailand, tumble-polished in Bangkok.)
Old hand-blown red and blue glass, the red from old multi-strand Naga necklaces, the blue excavated in south Java.
Note: above necklace professionally strung on strong silk by Sydney professional bead stranders, knotted here and there throughout. Costly, now. The price of such Sydney professional stranding has risen by more than 60% since Covid. The cost of such professional stranding becomes a significant part of the retail price of a unique necklace such as the above.