Sterling Silver 925 Marcasite Pink Mother of Pearl Pendant Necklace 16 Inch
$35.00
Skip to product information
Sterling Silver 925 Marcasite Pink Mother of Pearl Pendant Necklace 16 Inch
$35.00
Sterling silver pendant necklace centering an oval pink mother of pearl cabochon within a marcasite frame. The nacre is translucent with a soft iridescent sheen that shifts pale pink to green as the light moves across it, and faint parallel growth lines run the length of the stone where it was cut from the shell. It sits in a plain bezel that keeps the surface unobstructed. The surrounding frame is a stepped geometric form with cut corners and open negative space at the sides, pave set throughout with small faceted marcasite that reads dark against the oxidized silver. A matching marcasite set bail carries the pendant on a fine cable chain marked 925 and ITALY.
The geometry here is straight out of the Art Deco vocabulary: stepped corners, symmetrical openwork, and a strict frame built around a single central stone. Marcasite pave was the period's affordable answer to diamonds, and it works in this application because the tiny faceted stones scatter light in a way that reads as sparkle without competing with the soft glow of the nacre. Pink mother of pearl is cut from the inner shell layer where the nacre carries natural rose tone, which is less common than the standard white and gives the piece its warmth.
At 16 inch the chain sits high on the neck, keeping the pendant at the collarbone where the detail is visible.
Details
Metal: Sterling Silver
Center Stone: Pink Mother of Pearl
Stone Cut: Oval Cabochon
Accent Stones: Marcasite
Chain Hallmarks: 925, ITALY
Length: 16 Inch
Condition: Excellent estate condition
Fun Facts
Jewelry sold as marcasite is almost never marcasite mineralogically, it is pyrite, since true marcasite is unstable and crumbles over time, and the trade name stuck from an eighteenth century misidentification that was never corrected.
Mother of pearl and pearls are chemically identical, both built from the same aragonite and conchiolin nacre, the only difference being whether the mollusk laid it down as shell lining or around an irritant.