Pardo is a German polymer clay from Viva Decor, and the thing that sets it apart is in the recipe: it is made with real beeswax. That is unusual among polymer clays and it is what gives Pardo its particular feel in the hand. It is odorless in the oven, and once cured it is sweat- and saliva-proof, which is why the range was built for jewelry and things that get worn.

It also bakes up genuinely tough. Ginger Davis Allman puts it plainly: Pardo is “very, very strong, even when paper-thin,” and “possibly the strongest clay that I’ve used when it’s baked hot.” That is the property that lets it carry thin, projecting detail which would snap off a more brittle clay.

Pardo Jewelry Clay is the soft, easy end of the Pardo range — it conditions and slices without a fight, which is not something you can say of every clay. Ginger Davis Allman calls it “an excellent and easy-to-use all-purpose polymer clay,” and the color range is the real draw: 39 shades named for gemstones and precious metals, several of them carrying mica for a soft pearlescent lift. Every color mixes with every other, so marbling and blending are straightforward.

Good for: beads and pendants, faux gemstone and faux metal work, marbled and blended pieces, and general jewelry making.

One mixing note: the yellow leans orange, so a bright lime green is hard to mix from it. Worth knowing before you plan a palette around it.

Baking. Viva Decor's instruction is a pre-heated oven at 248°F (120°C) for 30 minutes. That is cooler than Sculpey and cooler than Kato, so do not carry an oven setting over from another brand. As always, an oven thermometer is worth more than the dial on the front.

Discontinued. Viva Decor stopped making Pardo, and we can’t get any more of it. What we have is the last of it — so if you are planning a piece around a color, it is worth buying enough to finish the job while it is still here.

• Color: Sodalite
• Size: 56 g block
• Viva Decor reference: 310050160
• Baking: 248°F (120°C) for 30 minutes