What makes this work, at least to my eyes, is the cracked texture. Polymer clay is a fantastic material, but unless you're a master sculptor it's extremely difficult to pull off pieces with a smooth surface. The eye is naturally drawn to the minor imperfections in the finish and proportions produced by hand-crafted work.
I'm not saying that as a criticism of CC's amulet, which I think looks great, but as a general observation drawn from my own experience. Smooth is hard. Damn hard, especially with a material that becomes softer and more pliable as it's worked. When an inadvertent touch leaves a fingerprint or surface dent it requires an amazing level of skill (or multiple bakings, but that's another post) to make a smooth finish look good.
That's one of the reasons I like texture in polymer clay pieces. Even minor texturing adds enough visual interest to distract the eye from the imperfections that can make a piece look crude. Just a light once over with something as simple as a ball of crumpled aluminum foil can cover a multitude of sins, and I write that as someone well aware of his limitations as a sculptor.
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