Featured Filigree necklace with glass or stone cabochons

Oh, my bad, AJ, too quick reading
The earrings are/were on Etsy, but halas no back view:
https://www.etsy.com/fr/listing/291...chine-argent-or-plaque?show_sold_out_detail=1

 

Yes, wenna, I always associate this overlapping wire loops setting with Chinese.
(NOT that all Chinese export is set this way... existing too plain bezel setting!)

 

OK, I broke out my (admittedly inexpensive) diamond tester and read the instructions for the second time; I think I got it in an amateur kind of way. All the stones except for the possibly coral one tested much harder than compared to glass. The blue ones tested as hardest. One of them even kept going into 'diamond' territory. I am using a Diamond Tester II. So, I think I can say they are not glass anyway. I also did the vinegar test on the coral stone (hope I don't get in trouble for that). It took a few seconds but it did develop bubbles all over the surface. I rinsed it really well after.

 

Good thing you tested the cabochons!
The result is consistant with my first thought, jadeite, tourmaline and coral, difficult to venture anything sure without a sharp close up , but this combination is often seen in Chinese jewellery (yes A J, I persist!)
The blue stone being the hardest, I think sapphire

 

No back view, but the front is the same. For a moment there I thought I saw Chinese characters on the back of the screwback, but it says silver, which could mean Chinese export, or from anywhere:


The wire loops setting can be seen on Chinese jewellery, European jewellery, Middle Eastern and North African Jewellery.
Balkan pendant and ring with loop setting:

Detail of Middle Eastern ear pendant:

 

Keep searching, kyra. We need to be convinced, and I am sure you can find a definitive answer. Maybe from a museum collection? A little more trustworthy than a listing? I'll check some sites I know, but you will probably find it. Try Chinese museums too.

Wenna, wherever it is from, I love it. And I still think it is older than 1930s, the period the Etsy listing mentioned.

 

Thank you for all your thoughts and insights AJ and kyratango! This has been a lot of fun and very informative!

 

I suspect they're reading that high because you're testing into a closed backing. That will give false readings.

 

Yes, good possibility, I was surprised by it.

 

Gotta say, have to agree with Kyra on this piece, looks like Chinese silver gilt filigree to me, with real stones rather than glass - would be nice to see a bit better pic of the box clasp, but it looks right too. Would guess circa 1920s-'30s...

The earrings in Kyra's Etsy link are marked 'SILVER' on one, and 'CHINA' on the other, so have little doubt of their origin - the link below is to a somewhat similar, though fancier necklace, apparently also unmarked, but have no reason to doubt it's Chinese.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Art-Nouvea...132349?hash=item467e6310fd:g:-6cAAOSw1-5bHmuA

~Cheryl

 

I didn't notice that, just Silver, not China. But in that case it is China, so well-spotted kyra!

The necklace in your link is very different and indeed classic Chinese Export btw, of a type I also have in my modest Chinese Export Jewellery collection.

 

Eh, everyone's perception differs - to my eye, while clearly a much fancier design, it appears, as with the Chinese earrings, to have significant similarities in style and construction...









~Cheryl

 

Cheryl, very good eye for spotting the mark CHINA on the earring, I thought it was marked silver as the other one!
Totally agree with your time frame, this is not a 70's one!

AJ,
I looked for hours into Google for museum examples... And got stuck in this:
http://www.gomelaka.my/straits-chinese-jewellery-museum/
SOO MUCH TREASURES!!!


The mop inlaid furniture!!!
I have 2 of these drum stools (without marble, all inlay!) from my Grands collection

I'm not a great searcher when it comes to something other than listings... Key words nearly always lead to commercials... I usually trust my guts and am sometimes right

 

I've seen the museum site before, it is enough to give you Stendhal syndrome. I even like the display cabinets.
Those drum stools are gorgeous, and I prefer them with all inlay, you lucky girl!

I think your researching skills are fine, just think of all the Mississippi pearl flower brooches you found recently. But it is difficult, I know, and with gut feeling, yes sometimes right sometimes not. Ethnic jewellery, like the necklace, is notoriously difficult.
Just an example, when I bought these earrings in England, I initially thought they were Eastern Mediterranean. Filigree, although more delicate than Ottoman, Eastern Med loop setting, red coral. No marks, and couldn't find anything like them. They came without hooks btw.


Then a few people said China. I thought no, not really.
Years later, while researching a Maya necklace, I suddenly came across several twins (triplets, etc.) of my earrings. Turns out they are Mexican, either Oaxaca or Mexico DF! And I never saw them when I was in Mexico in the early 70s, they mostly sold Spratling style jewelry, or filigree with bows and rows of thin dangles.
So the thoughts on the origin traveled around the world and ended in a place I love. Who'd have thunk!