Old Gemstone Corals. The Corals in this necklace are all old Tibetan, sourced in the 1970s through Tibetan traders in Janpath, New Delhi; all of them have lots of blemishes, but all of them are natural, all of them of good natural deep orange gemstone colour. They would have been among old bead strands, or portions of strands, of mostly less blemished Old Gemstone Corals, and the way things worked back then, and basically still do now, if one wanted to cherry-pick the best beads then one paid double or triple.
The Turquoise in the above strand are of Chinese origin. China has well over a dozen working Turquoise mines, still producing commercial quantities, and is today said to supply the bulk of the American market for smaller Turquoise of reasonable quality.
The deep blue, semi-polished Lapis Lazuli has its origin in the rugged high country of north-east Afghanistan, the source of this fabled gemstone since Antiquity. The beads are handcut in an ancient form, in Kabul.
Note the small spacers between the Lapis beads: old tribal glass beads from Nagaland, early 1900s.
Note also the professional Sydney stranding of this necklace, on silk, knotted throughout, allowing excellent flexibility. This AGrade stranding is costly, making up well over 10% of the retail price.