Story of a Single Neckpiece

 

This shorter post covers the fate of our BreyerFest Random Draw Neckpiece.  I was and still am pleased, humbled and amazed that so many people entered for it.  If only I could churn these out!  If only there was unlimited time in my day for tackmaking,...  but,...

The winner expressed preference with the words, "... he likes the blue and green ... so either one would be lovely."  In a flash of wild enthusiasm and with complete disregard for all my Akhal Teke reference pictures, I conceived the idea of using both.  "You can't see the two sides at the same time,"  rang through my brain, at once an excuse and a truism.

I'm not sure where these thoughts come from.  I didn't even pay close attention to the customer's exact word, 'either.'  Despite being carefully trained by my parents against gambling, there does seem to be a gambler deep inside me.

The choice was made easier by a few precious green sapphires I had.  Maybe that's where it came from;  I had used these in the previous set, AT4 Feldman's.  (I had also used 2 colors on a previous neckpiece, AT3 Meyer's.)  I found one stone small enough to fit the existing bezels and halfway in color between the dark blue sapphires and the green emeralds: it was a sort of light sea-green.

Once the stones were chosen, it was one evening's work to put in linings and then affix them.  I had to open the window so the weather needed to be good (it was).  I have tiny clothespin clamps as well as my much-repaired medical clamps.  As ever, manipulation was the hard part. 

The finished neckpiece was a bit short for Altynai, but it did fit him on the last hole.  He is the largest Teke I'm likely to encounter in a lifetime of model tackmaking.

This is a true one of a kind, unique piece of tack.  The customer was ecstatic, so my gamble paid off.
Thank you Ln!

What's next?   If the gods continue to smile on us, we will be in Colorado for the first 11 days of August.

Progress is slowly being made on our Little Bit scale Pair Collar Harness.

And I sure wish I was doing braidwork again.  All these new horses are inspiring!