Casgliadau Arlein

Necklace, silver, gold, enamel and opals, consisting of a reliquary-like pendant with two hinged doors that open to reveal an image of St Wenefride cast in relief, a large oval cabochon opal mounted over the opening, the pendant is of a square form at the lower part and the upper part has two sloping sides that meet at a central peak, the lower element is formed of a cast, pierced element mounted with opals, the stylised leaves extend up the sides of the main pendant, the pendant is surmounted with three oval cabochon opals mounted in silver with ropework and bead design, three above the pendant and one positioned as a drop (NB - the drop is a modern addition - see comments), the upper three opals are linked to two die-struck, circular enamel roundels depicting Libra (as viewed, left) and Scorpio (as viewed, right) with corresponding zodiac symbols on the reverse, the main chain of the necklace is formed by simple oval links in silver, interspersed at regular intervals with knotwork and bead links, the clasp formed by simple, horizontal tubing, above the zodiac roundels the chain is doubled and links to the main necklace chain via two long, rectangular silver links with a scrolling pattern, situated between knotwork and bead links; the roundels are enamelled in blue and the relief panel of St Wenefride is gold enamelled in red, green and blue.