The necklace laid out on linen cloth, the strand closed in a circle and the silver clasp at the top right

Collection Creazioni in Argento·Collana

Single strand freshwater white pearl choker necklace, individually hand-knotted

Name: Single strand freshwater white pearl choker necklace, individually hand-knotted
Brand: Anna Gioielli
SKU: CA143
Price: 210.0 EUR
Availability: InStock

Forty-eight centimeters of freshwater pearls, knotted one by one so they do not knock against each other.

€210,00 CA143

Drawn and built by hand at the bench, in Tosi.

A single strand of white river pearls, round but not identical: one is slightly flattened, another carries a mark or a fold of the nacre, and none sends the light back exactly like the one beside it. They do not touch one another: between one pearl and the next there is a knot, small and tight, that holds them still and apart. The clasp does not hide behind the nape: it sits at the side, and it is a hook made of two silver leaves that catch into one another, beaten and darkened inside, re-polished on the edges. Each of the two leaves closes like a cup around the end pearl of the strand.

Forty-eight centimeters in all: it is a collar, it sits at the base of the neck and does not fall onto the chest. The pearls are between ten and eleven millimeters across, and the size is stated as a range because they are chosen one by one and put in line by shape, tone and luster. Of silver 925 there are three grams and seventy, and all of it is in the clasp: no metal runs along the strand, the piece is the pearls. Nacre is the soft part — it sits at about the third degree of hardness, it scratches with a fingernail and it dissolves in acids — so the necklace goes on last, after the perfume, and is put away dry. The knot between one pearl and the next does two things: it keeps the pearls from knocking against each other, and on the day the thread gives way it lets one go instead of all of them. The thread is the part that ages first, and it should be replaced before it gives way, not after.

The material

Weights and carats as the workshop declares them.

3.70 gramsSilver 925‰

Metals: Silver 925‰
Dimensions: Overall length 48 cm
Technique: Made entirely by hand in the company's goldsmith's studio. The pearls are strung by hand one by one on a strong thread, with a knot between each; the clasp is a hook of two silver leaves, beaten and oxidized on the inside, and each leaf closes like a cup around the end pearl.

The stones

Freshwater pearl

The whole strand, one pearl after another

Cut: Round
Note: White pearls, diameter 10/11 mm

The necklace on the bust seen from above: the choker rests at the base of the neck and the clasp stays to one side

The strand hanging from a wooden branch, with the clasp at the top and the pearls running down in a double row

The necklace set beside two shell valves, with the clasp in the foreground

The clasp closed, seen from above: the two silver leaves caught one into the other

The clasp open: the ring, the hook, and the inside of the leaves beaten and darkened

The pearls on a white background: between one and the next the knot that keeps them apart can be seen

How it is made

The words of the trade, one by one, explained to those who do not know them.

Pearl: The pearl is the only gem produced by a living animal, and it is not a mineral like the others: it is aragonite — calcium carbonate — held together by conchiolin, an organic substance the mollusc lays down between one layer and the next. That organic part is its weak point. On the hardness scale a pearl sits at about three: it scratches with a fingernail, and the metal of another piece of jewelry marks it at the first contact. But the scratch is not the worst damage: being a carbonate it dissolves in acids, and sweat, perfume, hairspray and vinegar corrode the surface until the sheen goes out. It goes on last, after the perfume, and comes off first; it is cleaned with a barely damp cloth and put away dry, never shut in a bag where the air does not pass. And you watch the thread or the cord that holds it too: it is the part that ages first, and it should be replaced before it gives way, not after.
Stringing by hand: The stones are threaded one at a time, and the thread that holds them has to carry the weight of them all. The holes never fall exactly at the center of a bead: whoever strings decides which side to go in from, because a bead turned the wrong way makes a step and the thread hangs crooked. The last operation is the knot, and it has to be closed with the thread already under tension: a little slack and the necklace bellies, a little tight and it stops falling.
Knotting between pearls: Between one pearl and the next a knot is closed, and the knot has to be tightened until it touches the pearl: loose, the pearls slide and knock together; tightened out of place, the thread shortens and the necklace loses its fall. It does two things. The first is that nacre does not beat against nacre — at that degree of hardness it is the pearls themselves that scratch one another. The second is that on the day the thread gives way only one is lost, instead of watching them all go at once. The knots are made one at a time, with a needle and the fingers, and each has to be closed with the thread already under tension.
Oxidizing: The silver is darkened on purpose, and then re-polished only where the light has to come back. The black stays in the voids and the recesses, the bright on the raised areas: it is a design made by subtraction, and whoever does it decides where to stop the cloth.

I don't look at what others are doing: I would rather create in my own style. That is what makes our jewelry recognizable.
Fabio Gori — Anna Gioielli, Tosi

Made for you

Every piece leaves the bench made to order: sizes and details are agreed before the work begins.

The goldsmith's workshop is also the place where made-to-measure jewellery is created and family pieces are restored: if you have an idea, or something you want brought back to how it was, that is where it starts.

Ask for a made-to-measure piece

Made by

Anna Gioielli

A goldsmith's workshop in Tosi, on the slopes of the Pratomagno: Anna opened it in 1988, her sons Fabio and Francesco carry it on. Piercing, repoussé, chasing and burin engraving — the Florentine school, with the workshop in full view of the shop.

All the creations by Anna Gioielli