Go big or go home! The hot look in fashion magazines is big, chunky, ethnic-inspired jewelry. You can pay big bucks for these in a tony boutique, or you can make it yourself. Hunting for the elements to make the necklace is haft the fun. Don't forget to think outside the box for sources too - check antique shops and garage sales, not just bead shops.

Start with one principal item that "speaks to you" - the one you fall in love with. Don't hesitate to carry it around with you so that you can find just the right elements to go with it.

I started with the center medallion, and then found the Chinese turquoise nuggets. Turquoise and red is one of my favorite color combinations and very common in ethnic jewelry. From Turkey to India, turquoise and red is a tried-and-true combination. I tried red coral with the turquoise, but the coral I had just didn't work — so I tried some cinnabar instead and they looked great together.

Time: under an hour

Skill: Beginner - Intermediate.

Supplies

• approx. 45 inches of med or heavy Softflex of similar beading cable
• approx. 6 inches of med Softflex
• 3 sterling crimps, 2 x 2mm tubes
• 1 sterling centerpiece (Vintage Turkoman box approx. 1.75 inches across) with 3 loops - or similar focal item
• Chinese turquoise beads, 6 x large (14 x 22 x 26 mm), 6 med, (11 x 18 x 20 mm)
• Cinnabar beads (modern cinnabar is not poisonous - but genuine vintage cinnabar may have a very high mercury content and can be quite inappropriate for regular handling): 5 x 5-sided beads (18 mm long) and 2 x oval (32 mm long)
• 15 x 6 mm sterling hollow, coiled round
• 22 x 3nn sterling faceted bead
• 19 x plain sterling cones, 8 x 14 mm
• black matt size 6/0 seed beads (E beads)

Tools

• wire cutters
• crimp pliers

This silver box fascinated me when a friend bought it for me. A loop on each side suggested that it be a focal piece in a large necklace, as it is actually quite light, as it is hollow.

A third loop, where it closes that provides tension to keep it closed suggested a dangle.

These large, Chinese turquoise beads are smooth and reminiscent of river pebbles. I'm planning on making the necklace long enough to simply drop over the head, so no clasp is required. I plan the design by putting the large beads at the front, where they will be seen, and the smaller ones up around the neck and face, so that they don't overwhelm the wearer.

Now I start playing with the contrasting elements - the cinnabar beads. I originally planned on using round ones, but they were boring with the turquoise. I tried the oval ones and liked them very much, and then tried the pentagon-shaped ones, and was surprised at how good they looked.

I chose the smaller pentagon-shaped cinnabar bead for the dangle, as I wanted the silver box to remain as the focal object.

Now, I started playing with the silver elements. I like the way the cones fit next to the turquoise. And the matt black beads add a sort of depth to the composition.

Below are some of the beads I did not choose. The coral chunks overwhelmed the turquoise. The faceted amazonite also did not look right. However, the coral and the amazonite look good together - the very strong contrast of faceted and organic, somehow look better. There may be another necklace in there. Never be afraid to gamble and buy a bead that you're not sure will work. If it doesn't work as planned, it could be fabulous somewhere else.

Finish laying out your beads. Because we are stringing a large necklace, we are leaving out the clasp, but I don't want the weight of this necklace on a thin strand at the back of my neck, so I am careful to place the smaller turquoise chunks across the back of the neck.

The oval cinnabar beads have a design on them that has a right-way up and a wrong-way up - so I am careful to lay them out so that I can string them up working from one side to the other, without getting the bead up-side-down - as that will really annoy me in the finished piece.

I found my bead stoppers (Thanks Sandy!). Put a bead stopper at one end, (squeeze the rings to open and clamp onto the cable). Now string from the other end.

Because the beads are large, stringing goes fast. Think of it as a series of smaller elements, combined. There are 3 main elements.

There are a few variations in combining the elements. The actual sequence goes like this:

(starting at the front, next to the focal piece)

Take about 6 inches of medium Softflex or stringing cable. Heavy is too heavy for this. We are going to use only one crimp to secure the entire dangle.

Go through the cinnabar bead, add a 3mm faceted bead, and go back up through the cinnabar bead.

Now, add

• a 6mm round
• black matt 6/0
• faceted 3mm sterling
• black matt 6/0
• crimp bead
• small turquoise bead
• sterling cone

Make sure BOTH strands go through all beads.

Go through the loop, and back down though the cone and the turquoise bead, and the crimp. There should be 3 strands of cable through the crimp now.

Now, secure the crimp with the crimp pliers. Details on how to crimp are here.

Now, it is time to attach the centerpiece.

Remove the bead stopper, add a crimp bead, and thread the cable through the loop. Thread the cable back through the crimp, and secure the crimp using the crimp pliers. Details on how to crimp are here. Tuck the end of the cable through a few beads and cut off the cable carefully.

Now, do the same for the other side. Pull up the cable tightly and give it a bit of a shake to make sure all the beads are sitting snuggly together before crimping. This is to ensure that unsightly gaps don't open up afterwards.

And there you have it - you're very own ethnic-inspired chunky fashion necklace.

And when the fashion for this passes, just put this away in a drawer, because you KNOW that this will be come fashionable once again.