Featured Questions on Peking Glass Beads and 14KG Clasp

I recently bought this necklace at a thrift store because of the beads, but then discovered the clasp (which obviously isn’t original to the necklace) is marked “14KG.” I have three questions:
(1) Could the “G” on the clasp be the maker’s mark? I searched this forum for 14KG and found a discussion about 5 years ago, but it turned out the “G” on the clasp in question was actually an “S”. I also googled 14KG, but couldn’t find any examples.
(2) Are the glass beads Peking glass possibly by the Neiger Brothers, or is it impossible to tell who made them?
(3) It’s obvious that someone who didn’t know what they were doing put together this necklace with mismatched parts. I’d like to remake it using my stash of old brass chain necklaces, links, wires, and clasps. I also have other old glass beads, but I'm not sure if I should just limit it to the original beads and maybe 2-3” of old brass chain between the beads to make it longer, or string it with other glass beads
Any information and suggestions would be appreciated.

 

The clasp looks like a modern Chinese made piece,5 minute Google search example in sterling.... https://www.esslinger.com/jewelry-c...le-strand-rectangle-filigree-sterling-silver/

 

Thank you Hollyblue -- the Chinese sterling clasp does look almost identical, but the filigree detail on mine looks slightly different when I look at it with a magnifying glass and compare it to the Chinese clasp. I realize the 14KG mark could be there to deceive, but on the other hand, could the Chinese clasp be a copy of an old clasp? I found many more similar sterling examples online including Amazon. I guess the only way I'll know for sure, is to have mine tested to see if it's actually gold.

 

I think the clasp is a replacement but that the rest is as it was originally made. I may be misreading it, but wire looks like a heavier gauge than a home hobbyist would typically use, at least this home hobbyist, although I agree the beads look like they outgrew their caps.

 

It's probably not that noticeable in the photos, but the beads should be graduated in size, but one side of the necklace has smaller beads except for those next to the clasp. It also seems strange that the wires going through the beads are silver-tone and the round connecting links are brass. The beads are too loose on the wires, which makes the bead caps looks like they don't fit. I've attached another photo showing enamel paint on some of the bead caps, which makes me wonder if there were originally other enameled brass pieces between the beads, which would have made the bead caps look more appropriate.

 

Looking at the first photo some more, I think one whole segment has been lost, one of the smallest beads & its caps that should be just before the clasp on the right in that pic. Counting from the bead that looks largest to me & should be in the center, there are 5 beads between it & the clasp, only 4 from there to the right, for a total of 10 beads. You don't usually make a necklace with an even number of your main beads; if you do, you end up with a knot or a link of chain or some in-between bit at the center.

Real question now is how to make it wearable & looking the way you want it. Are you wanting to recreate pretty much the same look?

 

I agree that there is something missing. What I would like to do is make a longer necklace by adding brass chain and/or other glass and maybe other brass beads from the same era. I would like it to have an art deco look.

Since I started this post I read online that this type of glass bead shouldn't be called Peking glass (although a lot of people do). Apparently real Peking glass beads are layered and carved, usually blue and white.

 

The original components are gorgeous, and it is worth re-working it into something close to the original. I agree, the clasp, nice though it is, has no business being there. And yes, it is a copy of an older style, which was already used in the 1910s, maybe before.

The Neiger brothers didn't make beads themselves, they designed jewellery and commissioned glass beads and components or bought them ready-made from glass component manufacturers. Other designers bought from the same glass manufacturers.
This doesn't strike me as a Neiger design, I think it is older than Neiger.

Strictly speaking Peking glass beads are beads traditionally made by the Imperial Glassworks in Beijing/Peking. However, in the 1890s Bohemian glass manufacturers began to copy mottled Peking glass beads, much like they skilfully copied gemstone. They were so succesful that their beautiful beads are called Bohemian or Czech Peking glass. Your beads are definitely Bohemian or Czech Peking glass.

The Imperial Glassworks also made overlay glass. Peking overlay glass beads are layered and carved. Overlay is beautiful and skilfully handmade, but it is just one of the many types of glass that is called Peking glass.
Here are examples of Peking Glass, including overlay:
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/chinese-snuff-bottles-cameo-carved-and.23777/#post-319130

It is yours and no longer original, so it is up to you to make it into a necklace that you would wear. However, I think the Bohemian components pre-date the Art Deco and Neiger era. They could be 1890-1900, but let's wait what the others say.

 

Thank you so much, Any Jewelry, for expertly clarifying several things about this necklace. Your examples of Peking Glass are amazing. I began to wonder if there’s another name for this type of glass bead and decided to look in my “Baubles, Buttons, and, Beads” book, but couldn’t find any beads that looked exactly the same. I did find examples of “satin glass,” and wonder if that’s what my green beads are, or maybe Bohemian jade green glass??

Anyway, I dug out a necklace I have that has 4 yellow glass beads that look similar to the green beads, but I’m thinking the necklace is not as old. The style is what I was hoping I might be able to do with the green beads, but not nearly as long. I’ve also attached a picture of an old brass chain necklace that I thought I might use to add space between the green beads (and use the brass clasp).

Lastly, I’ve included a photo of pieces with similar glass, but maybe not as old? Are the blue and yellow glass pieces satin glass?

 

Satin glass has a satin-like look, so not glossy, but a soft sheen. Bohemia did make jade glass, but that looked like jade, so no Peking glass mottling.

Nice idea, but it looks like a lot of work, with all those interlinked rings.

 

Thank you AJ -- I was looking at the Satin Glass section in Jargstorf's “Baubles, Buttons, and, Beads” book (pages 137-138), and those examples look kind of glossy, but maybe it was just the way they were photographed (it seems I recall you mentioning that you have that book). In any case, none of the examples have the mottled look, so maybe I was grasping at straws to find a name for my beads, when I should probably just call them Bohemian mottled glass beads.

It will be a lot of work if I decide to reconfigure the necklace, but "fixing" vintage jewelry is a very relaxing way for me to spend a day or two. My goal will be to make the "married" piece look better than it does now so I can either sell it in the future or pass it down to my daughter and granddaughter.

 

Good memory! Yes, I have it too.

I am sure it will look much better once you have finished. Will you show us the result?

 

It seems the name for this mottled green glass is "dragon's egg", and it is Czech!
@evelyb30 will know, I think
https://www.rubylane.com/item/495269-J-791/Art-Nouveau-Czech-Bead-Necklace-Dragonx27s

 

Thank you Kyratango, I had never heard that term (just dragon's breath for something similar to saphiret glass). I googled art nouveau dragon's egg necklaces and found lots of examples, although some were attributed to the art deco era.

I took my necklace apart yesterday and could see from the inside of the bead caps and the unexposed wires that they originally had a gold wash, so that explains why the ends of the wires are silver colored and the bead caps are brass. I also noticed that the brass filigree beads have a few traces of gilding too, and that they're actually bead caps that were shaped into round beads, so that's why some were off-center on the wires (I'll need to reshape them). Now I really wish I could have seen the original necklace. Whatever I come up with won't compare. I'll post a picture hopefully sometime fairly soon.

 

Here's the re-worked necklace. Not sure if the dangle looks right, but I wanted to use all 10 glass beads and have something larger in the center. I only used one of the filigree beads.

 

Very creative, beautiful result, BRAVO for your work!

 

Gorgeous, Joan, a perfect and stylish result. It is much nicer than the one on Ruby Lane I think.
Will you wear it yourself?

The way it is now it reminds me of an Austro-Hungarian gilt brass and glass pendant I have. It came on a twist rope chain and the bead dangle has a floral enameled bead cap, much like your bead caps.
You can see that Bohemia was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire or at least still had the AH style influence when your beads were made.

 

Thank you so much, Kyratango and Any Jewelry for your compliments. I don't wear necklaces, so this one will just be stored with other vintage/antique glass bead necklaces in my collection.

AJ, your pendant necklace is gorgeous -- I can see the similarities in the bead caps. The purple glass is really beautiful. Since I started collecting vintage jewelry, I've been interested in learning about the history of the Bohemian glass/jewelry industry, but I'm confused about how to differentiate between Bohemian and Austro-Hungarian jewelry. All I know is that anything marked Austria would have been made in 1955 or later and anything marked Czechoslovakia would have been made between 1918-1948 (although the U.S. didn't require country of origin mark until 1930).

 

Wow, you did a great job with the necklace, Joan! Love it.

(Also, great photos!)

 

Thank you, Lucille. I appreciate your kind words.