Did you ever consider creating your own personalised jewellery. Maybe playing with beads when you were younger but have never touched them since. Necklaces particularly are very easy to make and with some
ingenuity can look either funky or elegant and appropriate in both cases to the rest of the outfit you are wearing.

The first thing you need to decide is what to make the necklace from. Semiprecious stones are a good choice such as jade, amber or other semiprecious jewels already polished and with holes in them ready to string. Or you can start from scratch. If you live near the sea, or go on holiday there, you can wander along the shore and look for stones, it is amazing what you can find, although you are unlikely to find anything truly valuable. However, this sort of jewellery is not about value, it’s about looks that complement your outfit.

Next, polish your stones. This will take some time. You start with an abrasive  to get the basic shape and take the roughness off and gradually polish with softer abrasives and cloths until you finally get the finish you want. Do not hurry this process, the more care you take, the better the final jewel will be.

Now you need to drill your beads so that you may string them together.  Many tools are available for this – the most obvious one being the miniature drills used by model makers. Line your beads up before drilling them so that you know exactly where to drill and again take care. Having invested all the time and effort into polishing your stones, it would be foolish to break or scratch them at this stage.

Next to string your beads. Jewellers thread is probably the best for this, although other threads may be used. Be careful, though, sewing cotton and the like will be too soft and will break and fishing line is to hard and may cut its way through your beads – and your neck if you are not careful. Make sure you place the beads exactly as you want them before tying the thread. You can place them a number of times before tying the knot, but once that knot is finished it will be difficult to change without starting over with a new piece of thread.

By taking your time, and being creative it is possible to make some really personalised pieces of jewellery. I know somebody who pierced orange pips to make a necklace – it looks great. Try carving and polishing small pieces of coal, it looks just like jet, with little or no cost. It won’t last long, but this sort of jewellery is not meant to be an heirloom.