So last Tuesday I was rewatching that one episode of Dateline – you know the one where the victim’s silver necklace became a key clue? Always stuck in my head. Anyway figured hey why not try recreating THAT exact necklace myself? Looked simple enough from the TV close-ups. Ha! Famous last words.
The “Silver” Hunt Begins
First mission: find that twisted silver chain. Thought this’d be easy. Went downtown hitting every jewelry supply store. Either chains were too thick, too shiny, or weirdly cheap looking. Even tried digging through my grandma’s old stuff – lots of gold chains, zero luck. Felt like hunting for a ghost. Almost gave up till I stumbled into this tiny dusty bead shop behind the laundromat. Owner pulled out this drawer labeled “misc scraps”. Bingo. There it was! A tangled mess of thin, slightly tarnished silver chain. Perfectly imperfect match. Paid like two bucks.
The Actual Nightmare Part
Now the pendant. Show kept showing this oval piece with a tiny stone center. Sounded straightforward. Wrong.
- Tried cutting a soda can: Looked cool but edges were razor sharp. Bad idea.
- Bought metal clay: Shaped it, baked it… came out looking like a burnt potato chip.
- Found an oval locket: Too big and way too fancy. Looked nothing like it.
Seriously spent three evenings failing. Felt stupid. Then remembered my kid’s broken toy robot – little plastic jewel in its chest was the right shape! Popped it out, painted it dark red with nail polish (don’t judge!), and glued a dull silver finding onto the back. Held my breath. Looked spot-on.
Assembly Anxiety & Victory!
Putting it together shouldn’t be hard, right? Just attach pendant to chain. My hands apparently disagree. The jump ring? Like wrestling a flea. Dropped it five times. Pliers slipped, scratched the stupid pendant. Almost threw the whole thing out the window. Deep breaths. Used tape to hold everything down finally. Clamped that jump ring shut like it owed me money. Done.
Held it up. Looked… exactly like the one on TV. Weirdly satisfying. But man, respect to whoever made the original prop. Looks simple. Is absolutely NOT simple. Mine’s basically junk glued together – theirs survived an episode and probably evidence lockup! This little piece of plastic and scrap chain taught me more than any tutorial. Props makers are wizards.
