A desert rose is gypsum that crystallised underground in salty sand, so the crystals grew into flat blades intersecting at whatever angle the grains allowed. They are found in the Qatari desert. Nothing about them is planned and nothing is symmetrical, and they hold together anyway.
Nouvel built the National Museum of Qatar out of that idea. 539 discs of differing diameters, leaning into each other, cantilevered, meeting at angles no two of which repeat.
At 6.5 grams this bead is six times the weight of the lightest in the collection. Interlocking blades take metal. It is the densest thing I have made, and it should feel like it.
Bead necklace on a 40, 45 or 50cm chain. Inspired by Jean Nouvel's National Museum of Qatar, Doha. Solid sterling silver 925.