Long Necklace Made of Two Rows of "Corallo Sciacca", c. 1900

The seabed off Sicily is a geologically very active region. Underwater volcanoes are frequent here and earthquakes shake the region time and again. One spectacular event occurred in July 1831, when a volcanic island rose out of the sea off the small town of Sciacca. The fishermen saw smoke and fire, and a new island was created. Depending on which land they claimed for themselves. But the dispute was in vain, as the sea soon reclaimed the land. Just one year later, the island had sunk again, remaining only as a shoal. However, the story of the mysterious island was just an episode. For thousands of years, recurring earthquakes and eruptions had destroyed the coral reefs at this location. The dead coral was deposited on the seabed and took on an unmistakable salmon hue. These so-called "Sciacca" corals were only discovered in 1875, when a fisherman dived for his lost necklace near the sunken island and found a whole field of salmon-colored corals instead of a piece of jewellery. The two-row necklace we are presenting here bears this special color in its most beautiful form. Each individual coral has the warm, delicate tone that makes Sciacca corals unmistakable. The strands rise gently in graduation to very large pearls with a diameter of around 1.2 cm. The two strands wrap softly around the neck. The relatively long necklace is completed by a clasp made of small coral buttons arranged to form a flower. The necklace dates back to c. 1900 and has been restrung by us. A piece of jewellery created from the energy of the sea.

Estimate:$1,673.2

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