Joan Lost an Earring

I often hear the phrase, " I lost my favorite earring"! A sad thing indeed. Recently I was requested to recreate a lost earring, much loved by Joan who had received them as a gift. This lovely chandelier style earring is made with Austrian crystal, a very unique design constructed with a combination of chain, wire and headpins. I do love a challenge and since I'd never made an earring quite like this my plan was to recreate this earring using new crystals, Sterling chain and findings. Then with one completed I would then take the first apart and reuse the crystals. I would never take the sample apart without first making a satisfactory replica!

There was some very delicate chain used in the earring to suspend the wire that carries the five crystal drops and in each drop themselves. I decided that it would be fun to add a few of my own details. The coils on the ends of the wire and central drop added a swirl of feminine detail. On each of the five drops I added a tiny silver Charlotte, for even more sparkle.

With my replica finished I had the chance to compare the two side to side and decided that rather than cut apart the original I would make a second earring. The older crystals looked a bit worn and I thought that taking the time to remove and clean them was not worth it. Here are the two side by side, older on the left and new on the right.