Featured Unique Chinese necklace. Glass?

Ever seen one like this? I haven’t, I believe it’s glass but I don’t even know. I don’t know if the pearls are real either. Hoping they are! The findings appear to be silver but I don’t see a mark on the clasp. Must have been a looker in its day! I actually am not even positive it’s Chinese but I don’t know what else it would be.

 

Very nice, J. How long is it? Could we see the clasp?
Style looks Art Deco, but we need to see and know more.

Looks like serpentine and probably faux pearls.
You can test the pearls by rubbing them against your teeth (or someone else's teeth). If they feel gritty, they're real pearls (cultured), if they feel smooth they are imitation.

 

Thanks. It’s in 100 pieces so not sure how long. The thread broke in many places. If I had to guess I’d say Deco is the correct era. I have rubbed the pearls on my teeth. You’re supposed to do it against the broadside of a tooth not the edge right? These feel less smooth than some but not like sandpaper. I guess I’ve never rubbed a bonafide Pearl against my teeth as a control to which I can gauge others against.

edit: standard spring ring clasp. You can kind of see it in one of the pics.

 

That's an odd one! The green (Chinese-like) pendant seems like it is deteriorating or something. Is it some kind of plastic?

 

It is awfully unique so far as I can tell. It doesn’t feel cool to the touch like stone, or glass for that matter. It also doesn’t give me the impression of plastic in any way. I know the pin test is dreaded and frowned upon by most everyone here but maybe this is a candidate for it. Maybe in one of the loop crevices.
One person identified it as a Chinese Hui symbol meaning longevity or long lasting good fortune or something similar. I haven’t confirmed this but it sounded good!

 

The clasp looks brass actually. The findings in the pendant look silver. Maybe they are plated and the plating on the clasp rubbed off with handling. Conversely maybe the clasp was replaced later and was initially silver. The green pendant and beads are very lightweight and not cool to the touch but still don’t strike me as plastic. The spacers look like rock crystal.

 

That is possible. I do think the necklace is Art Deco.

Strange, they do look like serpentine, also in these last pictures.

 

The green material looks like some vintage celluloid buttons I have that have started to deteriorate....it seems to start from the interior and has a crackled crystal look, which I see in the closeup photos of the ends of the tubular beads. Since the green pieces are lightweight, I think they're most likely celluloid. They may or may not continue to deteriorate. I have my mother's button collection and some celluloid buttons crumbled into pieces. It's not good to store deteriorating celluloid with other celluloid pieces because the deterioration can "infect" other pieces.

 

P.S. I wouldn't recommend a hot pin test since celluloid is flammable.