Jewellery renovation: the Renata necklace

I recently purchased 2 bracelets on sale with the intention of pulling them apart and turning them into a necklace.  The beads look like they're just a synthetic resin over a shell-look background, but in lovely bright pink and purple tones.

The bracelets were not making the best use of the beads.  I found the teardrop shapes unflattering with the points alternating, and the design made them look cheap.  They were threaded on elastic strings and closed with a basic knot, so they were easy to dismantle.

The first thing I did was to organise the beads in order of colour and size, as some were slightly thicker than others and some had more intense colours, or more of one colour than the other.  I arranged them in a graduated curve ready for assembly into a necklace.

I then spent what was probably a couple of hours pairing them with different coloured spacer beads, trying different layouts, and trying to come up with a pleasing, balanced design.  I strung the beads on tiger tail wire and placed crimping beads in a couple of different places to ensure strength.

I'm quite pleased with the end result, and I think it's a vast improvement on the original bracelets.  I call it the Renata necklace.  Renata is a name with Latin origins and means 'reborn'.