Ammonite statement necklace with soutache

This bold statement necklace was inspired by some  ammonites I'd bought on holiday in Morrocco a few years ago. I love the shapes and detail of the chambers which make up the spiral shape of the fossilised shells. These are the remains of a marine mollusc which died out in the same extinction event which saw the end of the dinosaurs - 65 million years ago.

 

Staying with the theme of fossils I also used a square cabochon of Agatised Colus  from Madagascar - a sort of sea snail which was extant 200 million years ago.  The last addition to the piece was a bit of a cheat. The elongated oval on the left of the piece is actually a Pseudofossil. the patterning looks as though it may be the fossilised fronds of a plant but they are actually dendrites - mineral deposits in this case into limestone. 

The necklace which emerged from these cabochons almost designed itself with the ammonites as centre pieces nestled into one another. Each of the  elements were bezel set using seed beads and Czech pressed glass and  soutache was used to marry these  together in the design. Pearls also seemed to be natural addition to this necklace of fossilised sea creatures