Amethyst Cleopatra Necklace

Amethyst gets its violet color from iron impurities and natural irradiation within the quartz crystal. At the pale end of the spectrum, it goes translucent, lavender, almost icy. That is the stone in this piece: rectangle-cut tablets that let light through rather than absorbing it.

The structure is two strands working together. A top strand of hot pink tube beads spaces the amethyst tablets across the neckline. Below it, cobalt blue seed bead loops hold metallic blue-purple pressed glass leaf drops at each junction, with small cream rounds at the pivot points. A pale lavender amethyst tablet hangs at the center on a short cobalt stem.

The pink keeps it from going one-note purple. The cobalt keeps it from going soft. The stone does the rest.

Pair with a black silk scoop neck, a strapless cream linen dress, or a deep aubergine wool turtleneck. For dinners, openings, or the kind of evening where the necklace introduces itself first.