Another Jewelry Question, Please

Leisa

Leisa

VFG Member
Thanks in advance. Again, my apologies for the large pics.

This choker necklace belonged to my great-grandmother.

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I have no intentions of selling it, but I have always been very curious about it. I think it may be Victorian?

My Mom always said it was made of 'pot metal.'
There aren't any markings, so she was probably right. But it's held up really well for at least 120 years (based on when Great-Grandma passed).

Could it be pewter?
I'm way out of my realm with jewelry this old.

What do you suppose the flowers are made of? And do the green leaf-type sets look like jadeite to you?

How would I clean it?

I'm just really curious, and wanted to share this nice piece with everyone.
 
Leisa -

If your camera agrees please show the back of the piece. Sometimes there are lots of clues in how the jewelry looks from that view.

When did your Great-Grandma pass away?


Linn
 
Assist

I copied your images and posted them to jewelcollect to see if I can get you help from the masterminds there....
I should have asked first I hope you don't mind.:duh2:
 
Oh I don't mind one bit! Thanks so much!

Here's the best I can do for a shot of my clasp.

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My landlady just looked at it & she believes it's actually silver. But there are no marks & the clasp & hook look more like brass.
The clasp cover has a lovely little butterfly on it. I wish I could get a better pic for you!

I'll get a few shots of the back now, too.
 
Laura - The 'jewels' really don't feel like glass, but they could be?

I don't know that it ever had a gold wash, but that would make sense with the brass or gold toned clasp. I just assumed the clasp had been replaced at one time.

I have never ever done anything to the necklace. I was always afraid to try to clean it, so it has lived in a Crown Royal bag for the last 20 years - maybe longer. I can't remember if I conned my Mom out of it before she passed or if I inherited it.

I also have a long necklace grom the same Great Grandmother that is teensy tiny blue / purple irridescent snail shells. I'm scared to even handle it very much. I should put it in a shadowbox or something.
 
You have a lovely collection of jewelry Leisa! :)

What do the 'jewel's feel like to you? For this date, glass is most likely.

From what I can see of the clasp pic, it's definitely period. It's possible however, that it's been replaced as you've mentioned, but a clearer shot is needed (I know it's hard to do with such tiny items), and more to see the jump rings, than anything else, and see if any replacing was done.

Yes, take out that long necklace from Grandma! I'm sure we'd all love to see it. I'm only in town through the weekend, but will check when I get back, if you decide to post it later in the week. :)
 
Ahhh, you are so sweet Laura.

I'll post the shell necklace later this month. I'm trying to get as many listings ready as I can for Christmas in July.

I just was so very curious about this necklace & am truly grateful for everyone's help.

The flowers feel more like plastic, but maybe that's due to the dirt on them. Oi.

I wish I had a scanner. That's be a lot better for these teensy thangs.
 
Leisa, it's simply gorgeous! I do not know as much as these other ladies here, but it certainly looks like it could be brass, perhaps originally with gold wash. As to the little flowers, I'm only commenting because I had a very old choker at one time (sold long ago but now I wish I had kept), not quite as old as your necklace but nearly so, and it was all flowers. They were larger than yours but were set and shaped very, very much the same. They were not glass, and I had a hard time figuring out "just" what they were. I never answered the question definitively, but I think they were a hard resin, or maybe celluloid. The leaves do look like glass, though, so maybe the flowers are. But when you said they don't feel like glass, I immediately thought of my necklace.
 
Leisa,

I don't know when your great grandmother passed away or how long she had the necklace when she died, but I think it's a little later. I have been combing my reference books and I think it is Czech; C. 1925-1930. I think the leaves are stamped brass - may have had a gold wash and that the stones in the shape of flowers and the green ones that look like leaves are glass. Those stones were poplular in the '20's. Yours are probably molded glass, but if they were jade or emeralds, they would be carved. The chain looks '20's to me, too.

Sometimes it is very difficult to tell what something is made of. Glass is colder than plastic and if you tap it makes a different sound. You can put the stones to your lips or forhead and see if it is cold. Of course on a warm day nothing is cold!

Linn
 
FWIW, the necklace of mine that I referred to would have been about the timeframe that Linn cites--late 20s to early 30s was my best guesstimate as to its age, based on its provenance and the look of the metal, although I knew absolutely nothing about jewelry that old at the time (now I know next to nothing, but that's more than before!).

I know my flowers weren't glass, but yours very well could be--especially with the leaves being glass--I don't think there's any doubt about that at all. Definitely try tapping on them with something rigid and see if the sound tells you anything. I sometimes use my teeth to tap against.
 
Check on the Czech; C. 1925-1930. ;-)

Great Grandmother passed away in the late 20's or early 30's. Mom said G-G Ma had kept this necklace for a long time.
Mom was born in 1919.

Now why didn't I think to ever ever tap these on my teeth?

The verdict is in & they are Glass!

I love that I might have my G-G Ma's fave necklace.

Thanks so much for everything - to everyone who chimed in!

Y'all are the best!
 
Leisa -

Just checking on the dates but did you mean to write that your grandmother was born in 1919 - not your mom? If it's your mom she is now 91!

If your great grandmother passed away in the early '30's and had the necklace for a long time then it must be earlier but it does look like it's C. 1925-1930 to me. Sometimes the history of family pieces gets a bit mixed up. I found a wonderful beaded handbag with my mother's things when she passed away. It's clearly a '20's bag but my mother - who was born in 1917 - would have been too young in the '20's to use it. So, I don't know if it belonged to my grandmother or my aunt - and there is no one left to ask.

I'm delighted that you have a piece of jewelry that was in your family a long time. I hope that you will wear it from time to time and cherish it.

Linn
 
Hi Linn - No, my dates are right. My Mom was born in 1919. She passed in 1994.
If she'd lived 2 more days, she would have been 75.
My dad was born in 1903. He was 50 when I was born. Surprise! :spin:

Maybe I have the grandmother's mixed up.

Maybe this belonged to my Grandmother & the shell necklace I spoke of was my Great-grandmother's.

Now I'm confused! LOL!
 
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