The Beauty of an Adjustable necklace
Some pieces of jewellery ask you to build an outfit around them.
This necklace has always done the opposite.
It seems to adapt to me.
I have worn it for years, and I still find new ways to wear it. Sometimes it sits short, just below the collarbone. On other days, I let it fall much longer, creating a stronger line through the outfit.
That simple adjustment changes its character completely.
In summer, I wear it with linen and soft natural fabrics. In winter, it becomes more graphic over a black polo neck. And for an evening, I might wear it with a long black dress and no other jewellery at all.
I have always believed that when a piece is designed well, it does not need competition. It has enough confidence to stand on its own.
Designed to Change
When we developed this necklace, the idea was never for it to belong to one particular neckline, season or occasion.
We wanted it to change with the person wearing it.
The necklace was designed through a collaboration between my husband and me. Each pendant is made from two pieces of ostrich eggshell, carefully shaped and joined so that the natural outer surface of the shell is visible on both sides.
The leather sits neatly between the two pieces, becoming part of the structure rather than something simply added afterwards.
The necklace can also be turned around and worn with the plain white shell facing forward. That side is quieter, although I am most often drawn to the three dark lines on the other side.
Three Lines
The lines are painted individually by hand.
They are simple, but simplicity leaves little room for error. Their strength comes from restraint: three lines, carefully placed, and nothing unnecessary.
The necklace does not sparkle or shout. It relies on proportion, balance and contrast.
There is a quiet confidence in that.
When the Practical Becomes Beautiful
One of my favourite details is at the back.
The sliding mechanism allows the length to be changed, but it was never treated as something purely functional. It became part of the design itself.
I love it when something practical can also be beautiful.
The back of a piece matters, even when very few people will see it. Good design should not stop at the most visible surface.
Perhaps that is why I have continued to wear this necklace for so long.
It has moved easily between different outfits, different seasons and different moments in my life.
After more than twenty years of making jewellery, I have realised that my favourite designs are often not the most complicated ones.
They are the pieces we keep reaching for.
Fashion changes.
Good design simply finds another way to belong.
