Orange Spiny Oyster and Heishi Shell Three Strand Necklace Santo Domingo

Our Orange Spiny Oyster and Heishi Shell Three Strand Necklace Santo Domingo is an exquisite expression of museum-quality Kewa craftsmanship, handmade by the renowned female artist whose work has been exhibited at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York. Three graceful strands of glowing spiny oyster move through shades of tangerine, apricot, coral, and warm cream, separated by extraordinarily fine chocolate-brown heishi. The softly rounded spiny oyster beads are especially captivating: each possesses its own coloration, striations, shape, and translucency, ensuring that no second necklace could ever be precisely the same.

Spiny oyster comes from the shell of the Spondylus mollusk and has long been treasured in Southwestern jewelry for its remarkable natural palette. Here, the orange material has been shaped into unusually plump, rounded beads rather than uniform discs, allowing the shell’s individual markings to remain beautifully visible. Each must be selected, cut, drilled, shaped, smoothed, and polished by hand. Occasional turquoise accents provide tiny flashes of cool blue-green against the warmth of the shell, making the orange appear even more luminous.

The extraordinarily fine heishi reveals another level of craftsmanship. Traditional Kewa bead making is painstaking: tiny pieces of shell are cut into blanks, individually drilled, strung together, then carefully ground, smoothed, and polished until they form remarkably refined beads. The delicacy seen here makes the process even more demanding. Hundreds of these minute handmade elements create the dark rhythmic intervals between the spiny oyster, giving three substantial strands an unexpected lightness and sophistication.

Jean Marie continues to seek out this artist’s limited pieces because they combine technical mastery with a deeply personal sensibility. The artist learned bead making from her mother and grandmother, carrying their knowledge forward through her own hands. She has told Jean Marie that she prefers to work only when she is in a happy frame of mind, believing something of her own spirit enters the jewelry she creates. Jean Marie deeply values that philosophy and loves patronizing her work. Museum-quality, entirely handmade, and profoundly individual, this necklace carries not only the beauty of its materials, but the story, skill, and joyful intention of the woman who made it.

Length 18.5" sterling silver clasp included

Spiny Oyster Bead size 7.2mm

Heishi bead size 1.9 mm

Made in New Mexico, USA