Gray, Black, White, and Red Gemstone Beaded Pendant Necklace
"Broken Curse" Necklace
This design was inspired by a macabrely funny passage from Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The House of the Seven Gables in which the narrator mocks a corpse sitting alone in a room.
"And why," you might ask, "would I want a piece of jewelry inspired by something so morbid?" Fair question.
This design isn't really about the corpse. It's about what the death of the man in question, the odious Judge Pyncheon, means for his innocent sibling cousins Hepzibah and Clifford. And what his death means for them is freedom from his power, his control, his greed--and from the inheritance of a generations-old curse on the Pyncheon family.
This necklace is, in a way, about deliverance. Let it remind you of those times just the right thing has happened at just the right time to free you from a hateful or harmful situation or to put things right when you could see no resolution.
The details of this design were carefully chosen to correspond to details from the book.The center labradorite focal bead, and the two smaller ones to either side, recall both tears and raindrops. The dyed black onyx represents the dark, shadows, and death, while the white matte snow quartz recalls the moonlight spilling into the room as well as the dead man's pallor. The rhodolite garnet accents allude to the blood at the judge's throat--the mark of the old family curse.
This necklace reminds us that even horrific events can inspire something beautiful.
The Details
- length: adjustable from 16 1/4 to 19 3/16 inches
- pendant dimensions (each is slightly different): 25-33x20-22mm
- clasp length: 11.4mm
- gold-filled clasp, chain, spacer beads and rondelles, and findings
