A few nights ago I was watching an episode of NCIS on Netflix and gasped. No, it wasn't some horrific Navy crime, a thrilling plot twist, or an unexpected guest star appearance. It was a necklace.
The episode titled "Nonstop" featured "The Sherlocks," crime-solving group who had appeared in an earlier episode. One of the members (Judith McKnight played by Jessica Walter) was wearing a turquoise slab statement necklace. It's so striking that I would have noticed it no matter what the circumstances, but this was the first time I'd ever had this particular thought about a piece of jewelry I'd seen on a TV show:
Was that my necklace?
I knew that last year I'd made a necklace with turquoise slab beads as a step-by-step tutorial featuring Halcraft's Bead Gallery dyed turquoise howlite beads from Michaels. I remembered the big slab beads and the dark brown leather cord that I used at the back. Was this necklace on TV the same? I knew it probably wasn't, but at the same time, I couldn't exactly remember how mine differed.
I paused the TV show. (Who could concentrate on crime solving now?!)
After doing a little research on Pinterest, I found out that I actually made two necklaces with these oversized beads.
Here's a turquoise slab necklace I made in 2014:
Here's the necklace I made in 2016:
This is the one that had nagged at my memory. When I saw the photo, it was easy to see the differences. I do remember adding a second strand of smaller, lighter coin beads because those large slab beads are extremely heavy. My version is also shorter than the one on TV and uses small beads as spacers in between the slab beads. The dark brown leather cord may be similar, although it's hard to tell from the TV screen shot. A step-by-step tutorial of this second Howlite Necklace is available if you're interested in making it.
I think the TV necklace might be the Panacea Chunky Double Row Howlite Necklace at Nordstrom. It's sold out, which is unfortunate because I'd loved to have known how much they were selling it for. Interestingly, there's a lot of customer comments on the weight of necklace.
So, anyway, it turns out my necklace wasn't that much like the one on TV, but it's the only one of my jewelry designs to ever come remotely close. It was exciting for the few minutes it lasted! Who says watching TV is boring?