We have a special client who lives nearby here in Los Angeles. We have made so many different pieces together, and almost all of them have been made from things she has either collected or that were handed down to her.
With her permission, I’m sharing one of the most recent pieces we made. Using three antique cameos, we created a one-of-a-kind collar.
Cameos have been worn for centuries. We often see antique cameos in brooches, pendants and even rings. Their beauty lies in the carving, with each image emerging in relief from the material beneath it.
The individual cameos were beautiful on their own, but they were not designed to be worn together. The two outer cameos worked amazingly well as a pair, even though they were collected separately. One is crowned with flowers and the other with grapes, and they face toward each other almost as though they had always belonged together.
We started by creating a custom frame for each cameo. Instead of simply putting a bezel around them, we created a sort of cage of diamonds around each one.
Every frame had to be designed specifically for the cameo it would hold. At first glance, the two outer cameos may look like they are the same size and shape, but they aren’t actually uniform. Each setting needed to fit perfectly and hold the cameo securely without covering the carving or applying unnecessary pressure.
Once the frames were complete, we began working on the collar.
We decided to use small, Freshadama-grade freshwater pearls. This part took a lot of measuring and adjustment. Thank you to Ely, our vault manager, for making and remaking the collar several times to get the rows of pearls exactly right.
When we reached the fitting stage, it took several of us to hold the piece in place and make sure the cameos were lined up correctly. The center cameo needed to remain centered, while the two outer cameos had to follow the curve of her neck without twisting or pulling the pearl rows out of alignment.
Getting the cameos to sit correctly was only part of the challenge. The pearl rows also had to connect cleanly while allowing the collar to follow the shape of the neck. If you look closely, you can see that each inner row has five pearls between the cameos, while each outer row has six. The pearls in the inner rows are also just slightly larger than those in the outer rows.
We love making pieces like this. We aren’t starting with a drawing and ordering materials to fit it. We are starting with objects that already have a history. We get to reinvent them, reimagine them and give these special pieces a new life.
And the story isn’t over yet.
Hisano is already working on her next pieces. This time, instead of surrounding the portraits with diamonds, she is setting tiny pearls directly into the frames. We may have more to share soon!
About the Author
![Jeremy Shepherd](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1248/7127/files/Jeremy_Shepherd_Profile_Image.jpg?v=1781643368")
Jeremy Shepherd
Founder, Pearl Paradise | President, The Pearl Association of America
I founded Pearl Paradise in 1996 and Pearl-Guide.com in 2004. I serve as president of The Pearl Association of America and authored Pearls As One, the pearl industry's leading certification course, now translated into 10 languages.
Over 30 years in the pearl trade, I've sourced pearls from farms across Japan, French Polynesia, Australia, China, Fiji, Mexico, and the Philippines, and produced three pearl industry documentaries: Pearls the Documentary, The Tahitian Pearl, and Power of Pearl. I have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Financial Times, Newsweek, Entrepreneur Magazine, Freakonomics Radio, Inc. Magazine, and many trade publications.
