Conway Bead with Dodecahedron 5-Coloring of Vertices

This Conway Bead is a beaded bead, woven from blue, green, purple, and silver seed beads in different shapes including drops and O-beads. This ornate cluster is composed of nearly 400 beads, each one precisely woven into place. I used five different colors for the background, giving the piece an interesting symmetry where every hole touches each color exactly once. 

If you look at just one of the colors, say lime green, for example, they form the vertices of a regular tetrahedron.  Since there are five colors, there are five tetrahedrons.  Thomas Hull has made an origami model of five intersecting tetrahedrons that exhibits the same coloring as my beaded bead.

You can see Thomas Hull's folding instructions here: http://mars.wne.edu/~thull/fit.html.
Here is a 3D printed version of the same model by George Hart. 

I tried beading one of these orderly tangles a long time ago, and failed after several attempts, but that shouldn't stop you from trying!  It's a real puzzle.

Anyway, my little Conway Bead is very round and hollow. The shape reminds me of a virus. 

It measures just 21 mm (> 3/4 inch) in diameter, suitable for a focal bead on a necklace.

There are a couple of different ways to string this, and the largest hole is 2 mm wide, wide enough to accommodate a thick cord or chain.  I also made a pair of matching earrings using my Iris Drop Earrings Tutorial.

If you would like to learn how to make your own Conway Beads, I have a tutorial here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/189075857/

This beaded bead is for sale.  Click on the photos to see the listing.  Thanks for looking!