Making chain is meditative, well, at least I find that to be the case for me. I first saw the simple version of this weave done as necklace by Christine Dhein who teaches at the Revere Academy in San Francisco. It has been about eight years since I learned to make this weave. I believe I bought some books and sorted it out on my own, but Christine does teach a class in how to make it and there are a vast number of variations.
I have made a number of silver necklaces in Byzantine weave, including one for each of my nieces as a high school graduation gift. However, I had yet to make something for myself. I wanted something heavier, bolder with a more opulent look. I had considered doing something in gold for myself, but settled on sorting out how to do a triple variation of the standard byzantine weave. Which was just as well, because when I was half way through, my daughter decided that it would make a really nice bracelet. So, my necklace became two bracelets, one for my daughter and another for a very fine friend.
The difference between the triple weave and the more simple standard weave is that if you view it from the end, in cross section, the standard weave looks like a square, more or less. The cross section of the triple weave will look like a triangle. I suspect this weave could also be done as a quadruple weave, but I have yet to try it.
Triple byzantine weave in 16 gauge sterling silver, with 3/8″ inside diameter links.
