With a pearl necklace, a clasp of a colored stone, such as a ruby or an emerald, will make an effective complement, highlighting the pearls; but for any necklace a diamond clasp offers perfect harmony. A frequently available diamond to use for such a clasp may be found nestling next to the little finger of the left hand—the diamond of the engagement ring, “grown too small along the years.” Such a stone has lost none of its sentimental value. Its sparkle and the memory of courtship nights may be preserved in a necklace clasp.
Designs for Clasps
A larger necklace of double or triple strands naturally calls for a more elaborate clasp. Such a clasp should not be merely a functional piece to hold the necklace together; it should be chosen for its own beauty and harmony. Often such a clasp, with the holding mechanism hidden, is worn in the front.
An effective design, in excellent taste with most jewels, may be fashioned in a flower motif with a black pearl in the centre. A smart-looking clasp, consisting of round diamonds and baguettes, can be made to separate into as many smaller clasps as the necklace has strands. One may thus wear a single necklace of, say, three strands, or three separate necklaces at the same time or on different occasions. Different lengths and combinations of necklaces can be arranged, in this way, to suit the mood or various degrees of décolleté. Clipped together, the whole clasp forms a beautiful ornament at the back of the necklace.
For Formal Wear
With a strapless evening gown, where the line of the back should be uninterrupted, another pattern of necklace and clasp lends distinction to the ensemble. This is an arrangement of three to five strands in the front, with only two or, at most, three smaller strands, close together in the back. There are two motifs, one on each side, separating the back strands from the ones in front; one of these motifs conceals the clasp. The two motifs, which may be of diamonds or of gold, should be visible only from the front, so as to preserve the graceful lines of the back décolleté; they can be highly decorative while remaining less formal or less pretentious than a necklace of diamonds.
When wearing such a many-stranded necklace, long earclips, at other times suitable to an evening gown, should be eschewed; the combination will seem overdone. The two clasps and the strands of pearls will be sufficiently eloquent, if worn together with regular, not pendant, earrings.
The Sentimental Clasp
A clasp may often be fashioned of an heirloom. There may be a brooch or a ring which has been passed along in a family for generations or been linked with personal and sentimental episodes and memories. Or there may be a piece of jewelry which a woman does not wish to abandon—yet which has fallen out of style. What may look old-fashioned on the dress front may preserve all its beauty as a clasp. Indeed, an old piece of jewelry, without altering the setting, may in this way be incorporated into a necklace. The very beautiful early Victorian or baroque flower brooches, for example, and rings and ornamental pins of those styles, may readily be converted into clasps for a two- or three-strand necklace. A brooch may become a centerpiece to be worn in the front, or it can give an unusual but becoming effect worn at the side. Carefully fitted to sit at the proper place at one side of the neck, such a clasp adds distinction to the contour.