Sandy's Cab

As I was digging through my jewelry photos, I came across this beautiful cab.

Gemstone was about 3 inches long, rounded, deep green and purple colors, could not remember the name anymore...

I made this necklace for my friend Sandy years ago, who was a manager at a local bead store where I used to teach jewelry classes. I have to admit, this was my first attempt to encase such a large, heavy and smooth/slippery object; I remember it was hard to hold beads in place. The key was in creating sturdy net and peyote structure as a base for further embellishments and additional reinforcements for the weight.

Do you have any suggestions what else I could have done to support this large stone?