Princess Diana's Swan Lake Necklace and Inspiration

Image from ArtFixDaily

There is something about pearls and diamonds which appeals. This classic combination has been used for centuries. One lovely example is Princess Diana's Swan Lake parure.

In 1997, she wore the necklace to a Royal Albert Hall ballet (and hence the name) which turned out to be one of her last public engagements before her death three months later. Click on the link above to see the necklace on her.

Princess Diana had input into the design of this necklace which was made by Garrard the Crown Jeweler. South Sea Pearls were apparently her favorite. She wore only the necklace to the ballet because the earrings were not ready. She returned the necklace for the jeweler to complete the set but never lived to see it.

An unknown British businessman later quietly bought the jewels for his wife.  It recently sold to a US collector for about $549,000. Millionaire furniture magnate, James McIngvale of Texas plans to put the jewels on display. Some of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.

The reason why I chose to write about this jewelry set is not because I am a Princess Diana fan. It's because I found the necklace so lovely. It has pleasing lines and served as an inspiration for my prototype beaded necklace below. Naturally there were no diamonds but I used small peach pearls, Swarovski crystals and round hematite beads. I will be tweaking the design as it is not quite there yet but you get the general idea.

Key to this design was the use of montees. These are four-holed mounted crystals which act as connectors as you can see from a picture during the necklace's construction. They also gave a bit of sparkle but not overly so. Not many of us get to attend fancy galas and such!

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
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