Tangled Tree Necklace

It’s true that there are hundreds of wildly talented women selling their wares on Etsy. In recession times, when searching for new gems and jewels, one must make conservatively priced choices and perhaps visually simple ones as well. In the midst of a global economic meltdown, it feels a wee bit inappropriate to be overly flashy.

Imagine by absolute delight when my new favorite accessory, the Tangled Tree necklace by Melker, arrived a day after I’d contacted the shop owner. Karolina, a lovely Swedish woman with beautiful handicrafts at unusually reasonable prices, shipped my necklace in a homemade box with a hand-written note. Charming and efficient!

The necklace is one of the coolest items of wearable art I’ve ever had the pleasure of owning. Despite what I thought would be a rather large pendant from the photo, the tangled tree fits in the palm of my hand. Made of intricately hand-woven silver wire, the necklace looks incredibly fragile and is yet remarkably sturdy. 

Considering that she never saw a photo of me, Karolina did a remarkable job of making my necklace chain the perfect length. A short gal with a generous chest, necklaces with large pendants—even necklaces in general—can be tricky for me. They must either be very long or very short—but please, no ‘90s era chokers—to avoid falling awkwardly to one side of my breasts. In this case, I told Karolina my height in meters, and she took care of the rest.

I couldn’t be more pleased with my new necklace. If you have $17 (including international shipping), you’d do right to treat yourself or a friend to this dazzlingly intricate little piece of earthy design. You’ll also be supporting a communicative, good-natured female artisan.

•