Featured White coral necklace

Any ideas on age of this necklace, or where it comes from? I’m pretty sure it is white coral with brass and garnet beads. I believe the beads are garnet because when I look at them with magnification I see dark lines instead of bubbles. They also feel colder than glass. It seems to me that the sterling fish hook clasp does not belong. I looks out of place with all the brass. As always, thanks for looking.

 

Hmmm, sorry bout the double pics.

 

Put together by a home hobbyist, I think. I'm not really seeing coral, more like bone or even ivory, if you're sure they are not stone. Would like to see the back of the carved plaque. The red beads could very well be garnet; such beads are not hard to come by & are not expensive.

 

I'm not either. Maybe shell?

So would we. It could be bone?

Someone thought enough of the necklace to put a silver replacement clasp on it. I think the original would have been a brass spring clasp.

 

Could be shell, probably is shell. I was Thinking the carved bead would be too thick to be shell. But I suppose there are some quite large shells in the ocean. I am pretty good at recognizing bone and ivory so I will say definitely not on those. Smaller beads could be mop. But they don’t have much luster. There is the front and Back. The whole bead is carved all around. I’m almost positive I have put one of these beads in vinegar and it was effervescent. So that would rule out stone. I was thinking it might be a tourist item. But I have no idea from where. Thanks!

 

Was there a time when the offset decorative bead was popular?

 

I now looks molded rather than carved. Maybe resin or an early plastic. Is it cold to the touch?
Could we see the back please?

 

The fashion comes and goes, so different periods.

That means it contains calcium, which shells also do.

 

Eww, sorry about the hair in the photo. I thought it was just another dog hair stuck under my screen protector. But I guess it escaped.

 

I have survived worse.

 

Yes, I think it is shell.

 

Thanks so much

 

The pictures above show front and back. it looks the same on both sides. Well there are slight variations in the carving.

 

Here is a side view

 

Here is a close up of it

 

Against ivory for color comparison

 

From this photo my strongest feeling is shell:



This is shell:



And these are MOP:


(Lighting making them look more yellow than they are.) They are not pearly looking on all surfaces; some areas are more like your beads. The larger beads are surely as big as or bigger than your beads.

Assuming there was some other original. This doesn't look commercially made to me. I have used old clasps & beads cannibalized from other necklaces in my own designs. Until the recent surge in silver prices, a clasp like this was not expensive new & easily found on vintage strands of artificial pearls. A crafter may have used the clasp ready to hand.

 

Even now it’s still only $1-$2 worth of silver at the most. Which is expensive if you’re mass producing jewelry I guess, but it’s all relative.

 

My vote is for shell for the round beads and possibly bone for the carved bead/pendant. It looks like it has been handled a lot, a sign of age. It could be the oldest part of the necklace.