Featured Ethnic Silver-Tone Jewelry

I love the look of Ethnic jewelry, but I can never tell whether what I buy is modern imports or has some age to it. I picked up these three pieces today from three different sellers. 7 for the bracelet, 6 for the belt (or perhaps is it meant to be draped over a dress collar?), 1.75 for the enameled pendant. I looked at the red stone on the bracelet under a loupe, and I think it might be coral. The hinged bracelet has a 2 scratched on the inner side of both parts, but I think that's just so they know to connect the right pairs. As for the pendant, I've seen similar shapes on Balkan belt buckles, but I have no clue at all where it's from... I would love some ideas/thoughts, or just some suggestions on how I can identify the providence/value of ethnic jewelry in the future, before putting my money down. Is there a way to tell if something is a modern import piece?

 

I think you better take up belly dancing! The red cabochon could well be coral.

 

Haha, I don't think I have the coordination for that. That's how I'd break my own knees.

If it's coral, is there a good chance that it would be placed in a silver setting?

 

I don't know, the feet stay fairly planted & it's mostly done from the midsection & the arms. Probably one of the safest dance forms, when it comes to knees.

Someone like @Any Jewelry may be able to pin it down more closely, but I've seen hinged cuff bracelets with that kind of clasp from Middle East, India & the Himalayan countries. Usual for most or all of them is 800 silver. Coral a favorite in Himalayan work.

 

That pin hinge turns up from Turkey on East to India and Nepal. So does the coral. You might look at Yemen.

 

Great haul, barn!
And you were wondering about squandering your money on cheap tat? Uhm.... no.

The bracelet is Maghreb North African, silver with Mediterranean red coral. The silver fineness is probably ca .800-.833.
Search for tiny marks, they are bound to be there. Some are smaller than pinheads. Check the hinges for marks as well.
In case you are looking for this style from now, beware. It is a tricky style because it has been copied in base metal and faux stones by Florentine manufacturers. The Orientalist style has been an important style in Italy for centuries, due to proximity to North Africa.

As for the belt, yes you have to take up belly dancing. It is a modern belt, probably made in India for the belly dancing crowd.
One clue, if the 'coin' dangles are not real coins, it is likely to be non-traditional. You can still get a profit out of it.

The pendant is gorgeous. It does look like half a pafte buckle, found anywhere between Bosnia and the Caucasus.
But I think this is Caucasus to Pakistan. The blue enamel looks like Pakistani Multan work, but that is usually used on champlevé work.
I have a Caucasian pafte buckle which has some of that blue and greenish enamel. I'll see if I can find it and post a pic.

The pin hinge as a determination of origin is difficult, hard to pin down. It is found in traditional jewellery from Western Europe to Eastern Asia, down to Africa, and across the pond to Latin America.

 

Wow! Thank you so much, AJ! I'm thrilled that it's actually a valuable piece. I have zero knowledge when it comes to this kind of stuff, so I usually just buy it if it's priced reasonably and looks nice, figuring that worst case scenario, I can hopefully sell it for what I paid for. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for more pieces like this in the future, but I'll be careful to watch out for the replicas (not that I'd be able to tell the difference).

I think the bracelet might have a stamp on the wire hinge; I thought it was a dent, but I'm going to see if I can clean up the tarnish inside it enough to get a closer look.

I'm not surprised about the belt. I figured it was probably a modern piece, but 6 euros still seemed like a reasonable price for it.

I'd definitely like to see your enamel piece! This one looks like it has a good bit of age to it in my mind, since some of the enamel has worn to age.

 

Found it, and took some bad pics.


Detail of the blue and green enamel, in gold cloisons:


Afghan box, base metal inlaid with lapis lazuli. It has that paisley shape and cannetille rosettes like your pendant (not as nice), which is why I showed it.
The Dutch Zeeland term for those rosettes is 'spinnetjes' which means little spiders.

 

I have found dents on those wire hinges that turned out to be tiny marks.