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Description
I don't know if I ever submitted the first version of this, but I'm now posting a version of the first style compared to the second style.

For those who may not know about this little obsession of mine, I've been attempting to make a necklace based on the passage in Revelations where the foundations of heaven are described:

Revelation 21: 19-20
"The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst."

I won't bore you with the little details about which stone is which and all that unless you're interested in jewelry-making or gemstones, because it really is nit-picky when you get down to it! I'll only say that it required a lot and a LOT of research on my part, particularly when comparing it to the Levites' breastplate in the Old Testament (also known as the hoshen), as the stones used are quite similar. I made some historical and financial choices as well (considering that jacinth is really red zircon which is VERY expensive, such that they don't waste it on beads), which I just call artistic license.

The first style consists of gemstone chips, and the second one is made with gemstone and sterling silver beads. Both are strung on flexible beading wire, but the bead one has a nicer clasp, in my opinion.

So why am I posting them together? I think the second style really perfects the idea so far. The silver beads really help, and I was able to acquire these beads from multiple sources, rather than what the Michael's in Colorado had. The second style is more expensive, but it's for a good cause--I'll be auctioning them off to benefit the missions trip that my church's youth will be going on this summer.

EDIT
These are now on sale in a local gift shop, and my share (70% of the selling price) is going straight to my church, as soon as they start selling!

So far I've made...*runs off to count* twelve, plus a child-size one, plus one for me, for propaganda purposes. Then I ran out of beads!

**Update**
Redid passage translation.

So I’ve had a few requests for more information about the stones themselves. Here it goes:

I started off making the chip necklaces, because chips are generally cheaper and more easily acquired than beads, because they're cheaper for the manufacturer to make. And since not all of the stones I wanted came in chips, I had to compromise. My first time around, I just went by what colors the stones were, without doing a whole lot of research. Here are the stones for the chip necklace:

(NOTE: chrysolite is a term for olivine, of which the gemstone quality is known as peridot. Aquamarine is a form of beryl.)

jasper (red jasper)
sapphire (blueberry quartz)
chalcedony (labradorite)
emerald (aventurine)
sardonyx (snowflake obsidian)
carnelian (carnelian)
chrysolite (peridot)
beryl (blue topaz)
topaz (citrine)
chrysoprase (peace stone jasper)
jacinth (garnet)
amethyst (amethyst)

Okay, so a little more information about the research I did the second time around. A lot of this came from me doing tandem research on the hoshen, which is the breastplate the Levites used to wear in the temple. They feature many of the same stones, and the ancient Latin and Greek correspond with the Hebrew as well as the modern translation, so I used that to learn more about what stones were more likely used.

jasper (green jasper)
sapphire (lapis lazuli)
chalcedony (heliodor)
emerald (aventurine)
sardonyx (sardonyx)
carnelian (carnelian)
chrysolite (serpentine)
beryl (aquamarine)
topaz (citrine)
chrysoprase (lemon chrysoprase)
jacinth (garnet)
amethyst (amethyst)

For example, people speculate that the jasper was of a green variety, which was more highly valued. Sapphires were not commonly used until the Roman Empire, and the word for sapphire was commonly used to describe any stone of that same blue color. So, lapis may have been the stone referred to.

Chalcedony is a type of agate (as other translations may show), and one type of chalcedony is heliodor, also known as Indian bloodstone. This stone has some Christian connotations, as it appears to be spattered with blood, i.e. from Christ. So I decided to use that rather than the more expensive blue chalcedony. I think the reason I didn’t use emeralds is quite obvious.

Sardonyx refers to a reddish, brownish, blackish striped onyx, which is what I ended up using. I used carnelian beads this time around, too—they’re so much more beautiful than the chips, too.

As for the chrysolite, in this picture the bead is a type of serpentine, because the word chrysolithos does not necessarily refer to chrysolite. It simply refers to the qualities of the stone, which green serpentine shares.

The beryl on this necklace is indeed aquamarine, and citrine has been substituted for the topaz. The reason for that is because “topazios” refers to a location where the stone was found, and not to the stone that we know today. The chrysoprase that I used in the second necklace is lemon chrysoprase.

As for jacinth, I an still using garnet, because after much research, I found that the stone mentioned was referring to red zircon, a very high quality stone that has a hardness close to diamond, and which is never wasted on beads. It is also extremely expensive, and since ancient descriptions mention jacinth as anything from akin to the night sky to purple to red, I chose garnet—a happy medium. And of course, I am using a more high quality amethyst for these necklaces.

All in all, quite a lot of research! But it was worth it.

Description
I don't know if I ever submitted the first version of this, but I'm now posting a version of the first style compared to the second style.

For those who may not know about this little obsession of mine, I've been attempting to make a necklace based on the passage in Revelations where the foundations of heaven are described:

Revelation 21: 19-20
"The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst."

I won't bore you with the little details about which stone is which and all that unless you're interested in jewelry-making or gemstones, because it really is nit-picky when you get down to it! I'll only say that it required a lot and a LOT of research on my part, particularly when comparing it to the Levites' breastplate in the Old Testament (also known as the hoshen), as the stones used are quite similar. I made some historical and financial choices as well (considering that jacinth is really red zircon which is VERY expensive, such that they don't waste it on beads), which I just call artistic license.

The first style consists of gemstone chips, and the second one is made with gemstone and sterling silver beads. Both are strung on flexible beading wire, but the bead one has a nicer clasp, in my opinion.

So why am I posting them together? I think the second style really perfects the idea so far. The silver beads really help, and I was able to acquire these beads from multiple sources, rather than what the Michael's in Colorado had. The second style is more expensive, but it's for a good cause--I'll be auctioning them off to benefit the missions trip that my church's youth will be going on this summer.

EDIT
These are now on sale in a local gift shop, and my share (70% of the selling price) is going straight to my church, as soon as they start selling!

So far I've made...*runs off to count* twelve, plus a child-size one, plus one for me, for propaganda purposes. Then I ran out of beads!

**Update**
Redid passage translation.

So I’ve had a few requests for more information about the stones themselves. Here it goes:

I started off making the chip necklaces, because chips are generally cheaper and more easily acquired than beads, because they're cheaper for the manufacturer to make. And since not all of the stones I wanted came in chips, I had to compromise. My first time around, I just went by what colors the stones were, without doing a whole lot of research. Here are the stones for the chip necklace:

(NOTE: chrysolite is a term for olivine, of which the gemstone quality is known as peridot. Aquamarine is a form of beryl.)

jasper (red jasper)
sapphire (blueberry quartz)
chalcedony (labradorite)
emerald (aventurine)
sardonyx (snowflake obsidian)
carnelian (carnelian)
chrysolite (peridot)
beryl (blue topaz)
topaz (citrine)
chrysoprase (peace stone jasper)
jacinth (garnet)
amethyst (amethyst)

Okay, so a little more information about the research I did the second time around. A lot of this came from me doing tandem research on the hoshen, which is the breastplate the Levites used to wear in the temple. They feature many of the same stones, and the ancient Latin and Greek correspond with the Hebrew as well as the modern translation, so I used that to learn more about what stones were more likely used.

jasper (green jasper)
sapphire (lapis lazuli)
chalcedony (heliodor)
emerald (aventurine)
sardonyx (sardonyx)
carnelian (carnelian)
chrysolite (serpentine)
beryl (aquamarine)
topaz (citrine)
chrysoprase (lemon chrysoprase)
jacinth (garnet)
amethyst (amethyst)

For example, people speculate that the jasper was of a green variety, which was more highly valued. Sapphires were not commonly used until the Roman Empire, and the word for sapphire was commonly used to describe any stone of that same blue color. So, lapis may have been the stone referred to.

Chalcedony is a type of agate (as other translations may show), and one type of chalcedony is heliodor, also known as Indian bloodstone. This stone has some Christian connotations, as it appears to be spattered with blood, i.e. from Christ. So I decided to use that rather than the more expensive blue chalcedony. I think the reason I didn’t use emeralds is quite obvious.

Sardonyx refers to a reddish, brownish, blackish striped onyx, which is what I ended up using. I used carnelian beads this time around, too—they’re so much more beautiful than the chips, too.

As for the chrysolite, in this picture the bead is a type of serpentine, because the word chrysolithos does not necessarily refer to chrysolite. It simply refers to the qualities of the stone, which green serpentine shares.

The beryl on this necklace is indeed aquamarine, and citrine has been substituted for the topaz. The reason for that is because “topazios” refers to a location where the stone was found, and not to the stone that we know today. The chrysoprase that I used in the second necklace is lemon chrysoprase.

As for jacinth, I an still using garnet, because after much research, I found that the stone mentioned was referring to red zircon, a very high quality stone that has a hardness close to diamond, and which is never wasted on beads. It is also extremely expensive, and since ancient descriptions mention jacinth as anything from akin to the night sky to purple to red, I chose garnet—a happy medium. And of course, I am using a more high quality amethyst for these necklaces.

All in all, quite a lot of research! But it was worth it.