A gorgeous Victorian era necklace made of rich black French Jet hand-faceted stones, also known as black glass beads. French Jet became popular during the Victorian period when black was fashionable. French jet was a cheaper alternative to Whitby Jet, which is a fossilized stone, scarce and expensive. Black glass was considered just as beautiful, but a much cheaper alternative.
The glass beads of this necklace were hand-faceted in France but most the glass itself was most likely made in Austria, a famous glass making European country. These have been carved into multi faceted beads of varying sizes, with the biggest one measuring approximately 8 mm is size and the smallest 4mm. The largest bead is worn at the center and hanging beautifully. This necklace measures approximately 18.5 inches around and has been hand-knotted to arrange the jet beads into descending order. It has recently been re-strung giving this item a very new appearance. It has a newer 14 karat yellow gold clasp that is marked.
This necklace is elegant a perfect for any evening dress.