Bead-and-link necklace, faceted peach and amethyst glass with white beads

Name/Title

Bead-and-link necklace, faceted peach and amethyst glass with white beads

Entry/Object ID

2025.1.84

Description

A single-strand necklace built as a chain of beads joined by gold-tone wire links. The beads alternate in an irregular repeat: faceted translucent peach/pink glass beads, faceted smoky amethyst/purple glass beads, and opaque white marbled (mottled gray-white) beads, each bead wire-linked to the next by looped eye-pins. The clasp is a flat rectangular gold-tone tab clasp. The metal is a warm gold tone; the beads are bright with good faceting.

Item Type

Necklace

Use

Belonged to Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez

Collection

The Cabrera Arús family collection, Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez collecition

Acquisition

Accession

2025.1

Made/Created

Notes

MAKER: Undetermined. Costume jewelry. DATE / PERIOD: Not marked; mid-20th century (estimated) for faceted-glass bead-and-link costume jewelry. ORIGIN: Not established from the object. The faceted pressed/cut glass beads are of a kind made in several centers (the Czech/Bohemian industry prominent among them), and the bead-and-tombak-link construction resembles the documented Jablonec-region method seen in the reference volume — so a Czechoslovak origin is a possibility to weigh, but not established.

Materials

Material Notes

MATERIALS: Faceted glass beads (translucent peach/pink and smoky amethyst) and opaque white marbled beads (glass, possibly imitating stone such as howlite/marble); gold-tone base-metal wire links and clasp. Bead-and-eye-pin link assembly. TECHNIQUES: Beads threaded on wire eye-pins, looped ends joined into a continuous chain; finished with a stamped gold-tone tab clasp. Bead-and-link construction (more durable than single-thread stringing).

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez

Notes

owner

Related Places

Place

City

Havana

Country

Cuba

Region

Caribbean, Central America

Notes

use

Research Notes

Notes

This is a single-strand bead-and-link necklace combining faceted peach and smoky-amethyst glass with opaque white marbled beads on gold-tone wire links — mid-century costume jewelry of the same wire-linked construction as the cobalt-cube necklace recorded earlier (and distinct from the strung multi-strand necklaces). Faceted pressed/cut glass beads of this kind were produced in several glass industries (the Czech/Bohemian among the most important), and the bead-and-metal-link construction parallels the Jablonec-region "pressed glass beads on tombak links" method documented in the Museum of Glass and Jewellery reference volume — so a Czechoslovak origin is worth weighing.

Created By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Create Date

October 18, 2025

Updated By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Update Date

June 14, 2026