What would be the best way to make a piece of jewelry like this?

This is not going to be easy to do. Your best bet is to find something similar and try to modify it. My local craft store has a pendant that looks like a good starting point. If you have a craft store in your area, look in the beads and findings section. Good luck!

You could use metal but it wouldn't be a real beginner project if you're not already into metalworking. If you want more info tho, I'd ask someplace like the metal forums at the Art Jewelry magazine site: http://cs.jewelrymakingmagazines.com/bajcs/forums/maingroup.aspx?GroupID=9 (forums under the Making Jewelry category like "General Metalsmithing" and perhaps others) ...to be able to ask questions instead of just reading all the info and messages, you'll need to join the site--free Another option would be all the ways that polymer clay (the "oven bake" clay above) can be made to look like metal. And since it's a "clay" it can be made into any shape/etc you want, plus polymer clay can create very fine detail compared to many other kinds of clay. It's quite strong after baking (as long as you stay away from a few brands and lines of it when making THIN areas**) and is a plastic so doesn't start to dry while working with it, shrink, or need sealing like air-dry clays, etc. Very thin areas that stand alone or project out though, even when using the stronger clay brands/lines***, will be a bit flexible if pushed on, so you could "cover" something stiff with the clay (like a metal washer or even cardstock, or even with one of the weaker clays below** since those will be stiff when thin if not strong). Polymer clay can also be pushed into molds (& molds themselves can be made from it) or you could use molds you make from 2-part silicone putty, which is flexible. You could make a mold in two halves, then join them together before or after baking (depending on your marble). Or you could make the clay pieces for the frame on the marble or separately, then put each on the marble and attach/glue the pieces together. This is quite an architectural-engineering project & could probably be accomplished in various ways, but polymer clay (or mixed with various kinds of real metal items or wires) would be one good option. (You could use wire for those thin parts too...the ends could be pressed into the clay while it's raw --best to kink the ends, then snug clay back for the best hold, but wouldn't be nec. if other parts of the frame were holding the wires in place.) SO...check out these pages at my polymer clay "encyclopedia" for lessons, info, options, etc, about the things above: making "faux" metal: http://glassattic.com/polymer/Faux--many.htm > Metal http://glassattic.com/polymer/powders_metallicwaxes.htm http://glassattic.com/polymer/leaf.htm paints + inks: ...THESE 2 LINKS MOVED to BOTTOM ...(Btw, I would *not* use the model paints mentioned above if you use polymer clay. They will eat into the clay over time, unless you coat first with clear water-based finish or something else. Instead use water-based paints like acrylics or alcohol inks, or use all kinds of the other colorants.) molds: http://glassattic.com/polymer/molds.htm mixing media + perhaps wire: http://glassattic.com/polymer/mixing_media.htm > Metal http://glassattic.com/polymer/wire.htm "covering" other items and materials with clay: http://glassattic.com/polymer/covering.htm > Metal (or other) brands/lines of polymer clay & their characteristics: http://glassattic.com/polymer/Characteristics.htm > Strength--Rigidity, Flexibility ...And the Table of Contents page lists all the other pages at the site, as well as their categories, if you want to know about other aspects of polymer clay like baking it, preparing/conditioning it, "hanging" clay items like pendants, etc, and much more: http://glassattic.com/polymer/contents.htm (then use alphabetical nav. bar to go to pgs) There is another kind of clay called "metal clay" which is used a lot like polymer clay but is real metal particles in a clay/etc medium so it can be shaped. After shaping it must be fired at a high temp (higher than a home oven, but lower than a really high-temp kiln) to burn off the clay parts leaving the metal behind. It's very expensive tho. The two main brands of metal clay are Precious Metal Clay and Art Silver Clay. Find more info about those on this page of my site if you're interested: ...THIS LINK MOVED to BOTTOM ** original Sculpey, SuperSculpey-flesh, Sculpey III, Craftsmart, Bakeshop, & perhaps FimoSoft *** Kato Polyclay, FimoClassic, Premo, Cernit, SuperSculpey-Firm (and perhaps Ultralight) .

the only way I really see being able to do it is with metal. find a friend or even a woodshop teacher who could help. I asked a teacher to put a whole through a dime once. but I don't really see this being a diy thing. sorry!