JEWELRY BY DIANNE SOPHIA * GRAPEVINE NECKLACE

At my grandmother's house in Detroit in the 1960s there was a wooden two story porch, and all along the porch in the summer was the most beautiful grapevine. The story was that she had brought the grapevine back from the "old country" a few years before. The "old country" was actually the new country, because she and her family did not originate in a village outside Thessaloniki in Greece, but rather in a village outside of Smyrna in Asia Minor. My grandmother's father died when she was 9 years old, and her mother died of a broken heart (so the story goes) when my grandmother was 16 years old. Therefore, in 1922 when they were chased from their home, she was was 18, and responsible for her younger sisters and brother. Their father had owned lands on which were grown Sultana (golden) grapes for raisin production. When I saw this clasp, all the memories came back to me, as they do whenever I encounter a grapevine. We never ate my grandmother's grapes in Detroit, they were small and kind of bitter. She mainly grew this vine for the leaves with which she would make everyone's favorite dolmathes, or stuffed grape leaves.
In this necklace I was motivated to use these wonderful large Green Opal coins which rest on your neckline beautifully. They are like picture beads with their varying shades and designs of green and red and brown. All the colors of grapes and grape leaves, as well as the healthy earth on which they thrive. The little dark green jade chip beads provide an accent of leaves, while the silver bali beads remind me of little grape clusters. It's lovely in person. This necklace actually has two focal center designs. The Clasp can be worn at the front of the necklace for major impact, or if you prefer, the clasp can be worn traditionally at the back, and a lovely square vined bali sterling silver bead can be worn at the front.