925 Sterling Silver Italy Heart Lariat Y Necklace Box Chain Ball Drop 16 Inch
This 925 sterling silver Italian necklace is built as a lariat, with a box chain that threads through a small open heart slider and falls into two tapered drops finished with textured silver balls. The heart sits at the base of the V and does double duty: it is the design element and the mechanism, since the chain runs through it and the whole thing forms a soft Y shape on the neck. The two drop ends are weighted with round beads given a stardust finish, that fine sandblasted texture that scatters light into a soft glitter instead of a mirror shine, and the contrast against the bright polished box chain is what gives this its dressed-up feel.
Italian chain is the standard the rest of the market is measured against, and it shows here in the box links: perfectly uniform, tightly articulated, and flexible enough to hang without a single kink. The drops swing freely as you move, so the necklace has a bit of motion to it rather than sitting dead flat. The clasp tag is stamped ITALY and the piece carries the 925 mark.
The 16 inch chain length with the drops extending below makes this sit high on the neck with the tassels falling into the hollow, a flattering line on almost any neckline and easy to layer with a longer chain.
Verifications:
Sterling silver has been verified using JSP Silver Testing Solution.
Details:
Metal: 925 sterling silver
Hallmarks: 925, ITALY
Style: Lariat Y necklace with open heart slider and double ball drops
Chain: Box chain
Finish: Stardust textured ball ends with high polish chain
Length: 16 inches
Condition: Good estate condition
Fun Facts:
Italy has dominated machine-made gold and silver chain since the 1950s, when the goldsmithing town of Arezzo industrialized techniques its workshops had used since Etruscan times; today Italian chain is still the benchmark for uniformity in the trade.
The lariat necklace takes its name and its form from the cowboy's lasso, a Western import that fashion houses picked up in the 1920s and never let go of, prized because a single strand can be worn long, doubled, or knotted.