Inspiration for your beaded jewelry creations

Take your beaded jewelry necklaces to the edge.

Find the best jewelry models to encourage your own individual bead creations.

Your beaded jewelry will be praised and worn with pride.

Here you’ll find seven models of beaded jewelry necklaces to push your creativity.

Just grab your beads and start making fantastic necklaces.

You can let your customers decide which model they like best and you can then create an original design with your own combination of beads.

Or choose the beads and invent a great design for them.

Seven models of beaded jewelry to reap you sales.

Make them your blueprint but always add a unique metal creation to increase the value of your design.

In each of these designs you can add your personal touch and ideas. They are not at all new, they have been used since the beginning of beading.

Even the simplest model will look great if you use beautiful, rare, highly polished and colorful gemstones.

Single strand with uniform beads

It’s the simplest model for a beaded necklace. Pearls are the all time favorite for this type of jewelry, often with a classy clasp.

You can fashion this type of necklace with almost any type of bead. It is best to use an eye catching clasp to add attractiveness and originality to the design. You can also use metal beads in between to add more allure and value to your creation.

I use this particular model when I want to experiment with big and highly textured stones or with raw gemstones. I usually make my own clasps according to the overall design of the beaded jewelry.

Because the model is clean and simple, it is the best bet to make the stones the focal point of this jewelry piece.

Single strand with different sized beads

This is a classic and conservative model. Also widely used in pearl necklaces, I believe it is best used with rounded beads.

The visual size gradient that this model portrays is good when you have transparent, high luster gemstones such as amethyst, colored quartz, citrine and peridot. The bigger sized beads will present their crystalline nature and this can be especially intriguing.

So it’s easy to set them as a single strand necklace and let their very own character stand out.

Or you could use this model with different sized pearls, which will always look beautiful, like the picture on the right.

It can be provocative to mix lots of beautiful beads in one necklace, I suggest you keep it simple and let the stones be the center of attention instead of your combination.

Tassels

It gives you the opportunity to place a focal point amidst gorgeous beads.

I use it to put a one-of-a-kind metal creation, in silver, of my making.

You can also try placing vintage elements, shell or mother of pearl center pieces or just a bigger nugget of the gemstones used.

Either way take advantage of the focal point to make a statement or highlight something meaningful.

Lariats

This is a funky and adaptable model. Your clients can wear them in various ways giving them an ample variability to match different types of clothes.

This model is fantastic when you have stones with thrilling shapes, sizes or textures to set them up at both ends of the lariat.

You can keep the lariat with a simple and monochromatic bead arrangement and keep the ends to spotlight fossils, for example.

You can use colored strings or chains to design different models. You can also find inspiration and make metal beads to add to your lariat designs to make them original beaded jewelry.

Multiple strands with graduated length

You can arrange them with their natural color gradation going horizontally and also vertically to create a mesmerizing effect.

It’s also a great idea to make a nine or twelve graduated strand necklace using just one type of bead.

I will never forget the most amazing, titillating emerald necklace I ever saw. I was in a family trip in Taormina, Sicily about seven years ago. In a jewelry store window there was this amazing multiple strand necklace with about 20 strands of tiny emerald faceted discs, carefully strung so that each strand fell right next to the other making a kind of long pectoral.

It was absolutely unbelievable, breath-taking. I will never forget it.

So, you can make this model as simple or complex as you wish. It all depends on the kind of style you want to achieve.

Multiple strands with equal length

It’s a great alternative when you have antique metal beads you want to show off.

It also looks great for simple faceted stones.

Take the example on the left. This is a choker with zirconia stones set in a linear fashion. Its simple, elegant and chic.

You can use multiples strand just like the picture or play with more colors as the necklace length increases.

They are widely used for wedding jewelry, brides love this type of model.

You can also make casual necklaces using an assortment of beads, seed beads, dichroic glass beads and others to create a colorful and glittering ornament.

Braided multiple strands

I love this beaded jewelry model. It’s also a flexible way of combining gemstone beads and metal beads. You can play around with this model by color combinations, textures, bead sizes and small items, such as sea shells.

You can leave the strands loose or you can twist them and even braid them. Whatever your choice, it should be part of the overall design.

Different colored pearls are strung in this fashion being a very popular choice among professionals. It’s also a great design for wedding jewelry.

Beaded jewelry is fun and exciting.

There are many ways of creating original jewelry pieces with gemstones, rocks, fossils, glass and ceramic beads.

We are extremely lucky to have such abundance and variety.

Proper care is necessary to prolong the life of natural beads. Every time you can, knot your beaded necklaces too.

Now that you’re into beading, designer gemstones are the best, want to take a look? Check these absolutely beautiful cabochons, brilliant for making state-of-the-art jewelry (I have not done business with them directly, so buying anything from them is at your own risk). Great design, cut and polish at www.samsilverhawk.com/gems1

Go from Beaded Jewelry back to Gemstones

References used in this section: Ganderton (2005)