Cue Aretha Franklin and "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman" because every single puka used in this piece has a hole that was naturally formed by the sea!
This wonderfully unique and organic Hapa Necklace is a beautiful collection of REAL pukas. I often find that pukas with natural holes are hard to use in other pieces. These shells tend to hang a little lower on their cord and are often not round, thus they never look quite right among other shells that are perfectly round with holes drilled right through their centers. So for years I have been saving these "real pukas" in order to make a piece just like this one...an au naturale puka necklace, if you will :)
Each one of these wonderfully surf polished pukas is unique: some are embedded with tiny grains of sand, some are pitted and misshapen, some are striped, and some are perfectly sun bleached. Because of their large natural holes, these shells will move easily along the cord, making for a beautiful sound when worn. It reminds me of the sound of an underwater rubble pile...if you are a fellow shell collecting snorkeler, you will know exactly what I mean by this!
This authentic collection of natural pukas is strung, small to large and back again, on hand twisted 4 ply rope (made from flat waxed polyester thread) in an almond shade of medium brown.
The secure adjustable closure is created using a sliding freshwater pearl, and each cord end is finished with 3 miniature pukas. The details and of this necklace are sweetly feminine as well as durable and functional.
While the pukas are the obvious star of this piece, the exposed rope cord adds another beautiful and interesting texture and also gives the necklace its name...Hapa translates to 'half' in Hawaiian and refers to my signature half rope, half shell design.
This is an incredibly special and unique piece and I look forward to sharing it with someone who celebrates the true beauty of nature in all its many forms.
Detail & Dimensions
26 inches end to end
25 inches max adjustment
4.25 inches of strung shell
Pukas range from 13/8 inch to 5/8 inch
45 pukas total including closure
Fresh water pearl and miniature puka adjustable closure
