While I was finishing up the chain, pulling it through the draw plate, I felt as though it would benefit from some tapering at the ends near the clasp.
Here's the necklace that I modeled it after.
A side note here on the photography. For anyone who is thinking about selling anything online -- even on eBay or craigslist -- make sure you get at least semi-decent pictures, because it makes a world of difference how your item is perceived. Yes, I got a bit lazy with my necklace, as you can see. And whoever shot the other jewelry (possibly their creator, Jan Raven) is a superior photographer. But it goes to prove my point -- good photography makes things look very attractive. Bad photography.... Well, I apologize for not taking better photos before sending this piece off to its owner!
Back to my point: this was the first piece in which I used the draw place to achieve a long taper. I am mostly satisfied with the result, although when I first looked at it, I wished my draw plate had more holes that were less drastically different sizes from one another so I could make a more gradual taper.
On the other hand, looking at Jan's jewelry, I rather think she had the same process. Instead of a slowing decreasing diameter, there is an illusion of gradual tapering where in fact there is one diameter for the most of the length of the chain between the beads and the clasp.
I have learned enough about design to know that it is the illusion that matters, not the reality. So, I think I can declare my experiment a success, and move on to the next piece!
