I found these beauties and wondered what time period they must have been popular. Pearls set in gold with diamonds at the front of a necklace, with a pearl string providing the rest of the necklace. Most of the strands I've found were about 14" long so It made me wonder if they were 1950's when women's necks seemed to be smaller than what they are now. I restrung these three necklaces using extra gold beads or replacing the necklace pearls with a longer strand that matched the pearls on the gold mount. Two of the sellers advertised these as "Bib" necklaces. I would appreciate any information as to the time period and the proper name. Of all the smaller pearls I wear, these get the most comments from the younger generation.
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I decided to dig out all of my old pearls, and realized that I was twins with you on this particular necklace!
The necklace with the 5 akoya pearls in the pendant area is an early Y2K version
Growing up in Southern California, my mother was sentimental about shopping in the May Department stores. When they closed down or renamed the last of the Robinson-Mays in ‘05, she and I went to the local store and shopped there one last time. As we looked around the semi-emptied store (housewares was already gone, and the area was covered with brown paper, but for some reason, four racks of furs were in the old housewares area.), she reminisced about when people dressed up to go shopping, when eating at the department store lunch counter with her mom was an elegant treat, and about store Christmas parties, where they’d bring in local musicians, and offered nibbles, and the store gave gifts to the shoppers.
And then we went to the jewelry counter, and she picked out that pearl as diamond bib necklace as a last goodbye. So yes, that “5 Akoya Pearl Bib Necklace” (description on the receipt) was sold in ‘05, in department stores, for $1095 new, but cleared out for $330.
