Wire and shaped jade necklace

Hello everyone,

I have been given several small carved jade carp which I am
incorporating into a necklace which has small pearls and such. I do
not usually do this style of work so am having a bit of trouble
getting the effect I want. So hopefully someone out there can give
me some small advice, or big!

The fish have three small holes in them. One in the mouth and two at
the lower part of the stomach. I think they are for sewing onto
something. So I wanted to have them in a row curving around the
bottom of the necklace sideways and facing each other. As this means
every second one is ‘up-side’ down in regards to the holes they don’t
hang the way I want. So I tried ‘threading’ very thin silver wire
through them to get the right position. But it looked cheap and
amateurish. So I then coiled the same very thin wire around each
exposed part of the wire to increase the size and tidy up the look.
I still don’t like it because the back looks bad. Maybe I should
make some sort of setting with wire which is soldered and then attach
together with links. But first I will ask you what would you do??
After the fish are settled I am going to pile on the pearls on bails
(right word?) The finished piece should be stiff at the front two
thirds and flexible at the rest around the back of the neck.

Thank you for your help.

Happy up coming (Jan. 25th) year of the snake.

Sharron in Saigon where the weather is perfect this month, at least
for foreigners. Locals are all wearing jackets and sweaters.

Sharron, why don’t you simply drill out the fish with a diamond drill
in a location which allows them to hang correctly? Jade it tough and
will handle the extra hole. Then you can link them with jump rings,
either simple or elaborate.

Norman

Sharron in Saigon where the weather is perfect this month, at least
for foreigners. Locals are all wearing jackets and sweaters. Hello
Sharon, Bend a piece of your wire around the perimeter of the back of
each fish. When you have the shape, no part of the wire should show
from the front. Add several bits of wire to this underbezel to act as
prongs and you have a setting. You can add loops to these and connect
them to one another or to connect them to a central wire of some sort.
Leaving the holes open will add interest to the finished piece. Just
my opinion. Have fun. Tom

Arnold