A lovely textured rolled leaf tube bead created in fine silver using real leaf textures, hangs from a sterling silver rolo chain, the chain looks quite fine but it is tough! Leaves symbolise fertility and growth and in Chinese tradition leaves of the cosmic tree represent all the beings of the universe!
Fine silver is 99.9% pure silver and works well for these beads, sterling is 92.5%, so fine is purer, with metal clays and silver sheets there are quite a lot of in betweens, for instance Britannia silver is 95.8% silver and used a lot to make a items such as spoons and bowls because it's higher silver content makes it more malleable and less prone to tarnishing but sterling is tougher so good for chains and jewellery ear wires etc.!
If you haven't come across metal clay before it starts life out as fine particles of metal combined with a binder and it can be sculpted, textured and all sorts, it is then dried and fired whereupon the binder burns away leaving a metal piece, in this case a bead of fine silver.
The necklace in 46cm long (18 inches) and the bead is approximately 2cm wide (3/4 inch) and approximately 1cm high (3/8 inch).
All my items are gift wrapped!