OUR TAKE ON A MODERN-DAY CHATELAINE, this piece can evolve and grow as you collect charms and ephemera. Worn long, it’s a gathering place for new finds and gently aged heirloom jewels. Use a mix of long charms and small beads for an eclectic grouping. The bezel wire used for the bar, stretching from one end of the U-shaped wire to the other, is made from extra-soft sterling silver so it’s pliable and easy to use, and the oval jump rings allow each charm or pendant to hang separately and elegantly. The wire spool of silver-toned wire should be in a circular shape when you buy it in order to reduce the amount of shaping you’ll need to do to it.
1 spool of 18-gauge silver-toned wire
6 in/15 cm sterling bezel wire, 5 mm
30 in/76 cm silver cable chain, 3 mm
3 medium silver jump rings
Small silver oval jump rings (1 for each charm, plus 1 additional)
1 medium silver lobster clasp
Silver headpins (one for each charm)
Assorted charms and beads
Clippers
Round-nose pliers
Chain-nose pliers
Create the wire base
1 To create the U-shape of 18-gauge silver-toned wire for this piece, cut slightly more than half of a coil from the spool. Using round-nose pliers, create a loop on either end of the wire.
2 Wrap the ends of the bezel wire around the 18-gauge wire right below each loop, creating a semicircle.
3 With chain-nose pliers, attach the loops in the bezel wire to the ends of the silver cable chain with 2 medium silver jump rings.
4 With clippers, cut the cable chain in half. Attach 1 medium jump ring to 1 end of the chain, and with a small jump ring, attach the lobster clasp to the other end of the chain.
Add the charms
5 Thread a headpin through each charm and make a loop at the top of each one. Add a small oval jump ring to each loop.
6 Connect each small oval jump ring with its charm to the 18-gauge wire U-shape.
