Featured Help with vintage coral bead necklace

I just bought this 54" necklace yesterday at a thrift store for $11.00 thinking the beads look like coral and the clasp is marked "Sterling-S", but not sure if the last character is an "S" or a "9" because it looks slightly different than the first "S". The beads are hand knotted and slightly graduated. Does anyone recognize the Sterling mark, know where the necklace was made, how old it might be, and whether the beads are definitely coral?

 

Very nice. Looks like coral to me. I thought it says STERLING S denoting sterling silver.

 

Thank you, Houseful. You're probably right about the mark denoting Sterling Silver. I didn't think of that.

 

I vote for coral too Nice length, you got a bargain

 

Thank you kyratango.

 

Another vote for genuine coral & a good deal. I have seen glass 'coral' rondel beads with fairly convincing color, variations in shape, even some with little black spots here & there. But visible in some of your photos are the growth lines of natural coral, not imitated in artificial coral.

 

"I need help" you've got great vision -- I'm so glad you pointed out that tiny mark that I didn't see because it's 12K. I wonder if the safety chain was added later. I found a few coral necklaces online that look similar and are described as Victorian or Art Nouveau with natural undyed Chinese or Ukrianian coral. I'm wondering if that's where most of the coral came from at that time. Would the clasp and safety chain be American?

 

Bronwen, I appreciate your mentioning "growth lines of natural coral" -- That's new information for me. I'm going to write it on a slip of paper and keep it with the necklace so I don't forget. Also the term "rondel" beads is good to know. I wondered if there was a name for the bead shape. Thank you for your help.

 

This is quite likely, as it is easy to do & someone may have been worried about suspending that weight in coral from such a small clasp. There seems to be an assortment of metals. Judging by the green oxidation, at least one bead tip appears to be brass, which is stronger than gold.

 

More good information -- much appreciated. Thank you

 

More than you ever wanted to know: Coral is formed by myriad little coral polyps, each with its own shell, all stuck together. But in order for nutrients to reach beyond just the outer surface, they leave little tubules for the water to get in.

 

and they quietly slurp, slurp... I love the info, Bronwen!

Lovely necklace, Joan.

 

It's amazing how coral is formed. I don't think I'll ever have to worry about knowing too much. But speaking of worrying, I'm wondering if there will come a time when there will be a ban on selling coral jewelry without documentation of age. I have a small collection of vintage ivory bangle bracelets that I don't think I'll ever be able to sell since I don't know if they're at least 100 years old. On one hand I'd like to keep this coral necklace to either pass on to my daughter or sell when I really need some extra money. But on the other hand, I don't want to end up with something that has no monetary value.

 

Thank you, I'll try that.

 

Talk about learning .. I immediately went to the bead pic and enlarged the pic and found the 'growth lines' .. THANKS Bronwen !! .. Well done Joan, VERY nice buy .. Joy.

 

All terrific Info and a great looking necklace Joan!! The "Dastardly Dynamos" do it again!!!

 

Congratulations, an incredible find, Joan. One that makes this lover of antique Mediterranean red coral very excited.
These are the growth lines Bronwen mentioned, clearly visible in the top bead:

It is exactly like Ukrainian and other European antique coral beads. Those beads all came from the Mediterranean and have been traded throughout Europe, North Africa and Asia for thousands of years.
Mediterranean coral used to be sourced in Italy, Croatia, Spain, Morocco and Algeria. There were smaller pockets here and there, but those were the main countries. Croatian coral is often called Adriatic coral, but it is also Mediterranean coral. The Adriatic sea, between Italy and Croatia, is part of the Med. Adriatic coral is also highly sought after.
The prime locations were around the Italian islands, where coral is still sourced in very limited, controlled amounts. No doubt there will be a complete ban in the foreseeable future. Already most coral used in Italian jewellery today comes from old stock or is recycled from older jewellery. So if you have no reason to sell this beauty, keep it, it will get more valuable in the future.

Your beads are 19th century. They are essentially Mediterranean red coral, but because red coral slowly gets a little paler over the centuries, it is now close to salmon coral. It would never have been deep red. This is the colour and very soft sheen collectors of antique coral look for. We don't like that bright red shiny coral, too new looking, no character.
The value of the clasp, etc is a nice bonus, but peanuts compared to the value of the coral.
The Chinese would go crazy over your gorgeous necklace. They would buy it in a heartbeat, probably to take it apart to make their own jewellery using antique Chinese silver or gold beads and findings.
If you enter 'coral' in the search box of this page, you will see nice antique Med coral in many of the threads.

Nice detail, did you ever wonder why Italians drink so much espresso and other types of strong coffee? Well, they traded their coral to jewellery country Yemen, the former land of Sheba. The Yemenis paid in their local coffee and in incense. The main Yemeni harbour town was Mocha, which is why we call strong Arabian coffee mocha.
If you are addicted to coffee, blame it on the coral trade.

 

Just an example of recycled antique Med red coral, a chunky Modernist ring bought by my mother in Croatia ca 1980: