Antique Austro-Hungarian pendant

Jewelry Discussion
1

Dear community,

I recently bought an antique silver, garnet and pearl pendant,
described as Austro-Hungarian from ca. 1900.

  1. I need a chain for it and would like it to be as authentic to
    that era’s style as possible. I am considering silver, garnet beads
    or
    pearls. The garnet bezels appeared to have been gilded but are quite
    faded now, so yellow gold- color probably would not work. It is also
    quite large (3 5/8 inches or 9 cm) therefore I would prefer a choker.

  2. The top center drop was missing and I replaced it with a drop
    what seemed to match the style and esthetically pleasing to me (now I
    only have to wait for the patina to form). If you have other or more
    authentic suggestions please let me know. I also replaced the pearls
    of the drops, the original ones were of poor quality ( eg. double
    drill holes, does not show well on the image). And finally, I don’t
    think the center stone is a garnet, more details on request.

The images (original, altered) can be seen at:

655×1211 152 KB

[For ‘Antique Roadshow’ viewers: I did not polish, file or alter the
piece in any way, except exchanging 3 pearls, which can be easily
reversed. ]

If anyone of you has some insight I’d be very grateful.

Isabella

2

Isabella,

This is a wonderful turn of the 20th century lavalier. It is a shame
you had to replace the pearls. They most likely were natural
freshwater pearls.

A piece like this would have been worn with a simple cable link
chain.

Greg DeMark