Moss Aquamarine Pendant on Handmade Rolo Chain

This one of a kind moss aquamarine pendant necklace pairs an unusual rose cut natural gemstone with a substantial handmade Argentium sterling silver rolo chain.

• Materials: Moss aquamarine and solid Argentium sterling silver
• Pendant size: Approx. 0.91" wide x 1.22" tall (23 mm x 31 mm), including bail
• Stone size: Approx. 0.75" wide x 0.67" tall (19 mm x 17 mm)
• Stone: Freeform rose cut moss aquamarine, faceted across the top and flat on the back
• Chain length: Just over 18" when worn, measuring approximately 19" including toggle
• Chain: Handmade 5 mm rolo links, individually welded closed
• Closure: Handmade heavyweight toggle clasp
• Weight: 32 grams
• Finish: High polish
• Pendant is removable and chain can be worn on its own
• Silver hallmarks: 940 with unicorn logo on pendant bail and toggle
• One of a kind + ready to ship

This moss aquamarine is such a cool and unusual stone. It almost has the look of a bicolor aquamarine. Part of the stone is a very pale, soft aquamarine blue with creamy, more opaque inclusions, while another area has this beautiful bronze brown color with tiny darker flecks. In shadow, those brown areas can look deeper and more opaque, but when the light hits them, little flashes of color appear.

The stone is translucent and rose cut, so it is faceted across the top and flat on the back. I knew from playing with it that it looked amazing over bright silver, so I kept the pendant design fairly simple and set the stone over a highly polished, heavy silver back plate. Light can travel through the aquamarine, reflect off the polished silver underneath and come back through the stone, which really makes it light up and glow as you move it.

I created the back plate from melted silver that I forged, milled and hammered into shape. Both the stone and the silver have an organic, asymmetrical shape, and I liked having a little extra silver visible around parts of the stone rather than trimming everything away. I used line stamps to add small flourishes and a sunburst inspired pattern across the top and along one side. The hammered bail adds another simple handmade detail without taking attention away from the stone.

Once I finished the pendant, a standard thin chain just did not feel right with it. I wanted something more substantial, so I decided to make the entire chain by hand. I formed tiny 5 mm rolo links from heavy half round Argentium sterling silver wire, assembled them individually and permanently welded every link closed.

This was a challenge for me because these are about the smallest links I can make and still individually assemble and weld. I normally work larger, so creating this chain required quite a bit of magnification and was very time consuming. The half round wire gives each link a flat inner edge and a rounded outer surface, which catches the light differently than a chain made from simple round wire. I absolutely love the result.

The pendant can be removed from the chain, which gives you several ways to wear the piece. You can put the aquamarine pendant on another chain you already own, or wear this handmade silver chain completely on its own. I think the chain is special enough to be an everyday necklace by itself, but it looks incredible with this particular aquamarine.

This design ended up being less about adding lots of extra elements and more about digging into the craftsmanship of each component. The substantial setting, forged silver, unusual aquamarine and tiny individually welded links all come together in a design that is visually simple but took a tremendous amount of hands on work to create. I am so happy with how this one came out.