Three Amber, old Tibetan “butterscotch” Amber gemstones from around the mid-1900s or a little earlier, of Baltic origin, in a necklace created in Sydney with lovely old handcut Sth Indian Corals, and Gold.
The three gemstones most closely associated with Tibetan culture are Turquoise, Coral and Amber, Turquoise since ancient times through its own Turquoise mines, and Coral through trade with its southern neighbour, China, which had its source for that gemstone in the China Sea. Trade obviously also brought yellow Amber into the Tibetan orbit, perhaps again through China but more likely through European traders in the early 1800s, for the type of “butterscotch” colour of the Three Amber beads above is available from the Baltic Sea regions of Northern Europe and from virtually nowhere else.
The source of the old Coral in the above necklace is the Mediterranean; traders were bringing Mediterranean gemstone Coral into southern India, in branch form, from the 1700s. Nowadays, very little gemstone Coral originates in the China Sea; Mediterranean Coral is also becoming less abundant and, of course, commensurately more costly.
The Gold beads, end rings and spring clasp are all 9ct Gold, mostly London-made, except for the two larger hand-worked Gold beads flanking the centre Amber, which are traditional Nth Indian solid 20ct Gold.