Diāokè shānhú factory (Carved coral)

I have "married" the beads on this necklace with leather thong for casual and easy wear.

The centerpiece of this necklace is hand carved coral.

At the beginning of the 1st millennium, there was significant trade in factory coral between the Mediterranean and India, where it was highly prized as a substance believed to be endowed with mysterious sacred properties. Pliny the Elder remarks that, before the great demand from India, the Gauls used it for the ornamentation of their weapons and helmets; but by this period, so great was the Eastern demand, that it was very rarely seen even in the regions which produced it. Among the Romans, branches of coral were hung around children's necks to preserve them from danger from the outside, and the substance had many medicinal virtues attributed to it. The belief in coral's potency as a charm continued throughout the Middle Ages and early in 20th century Italy it was worn as a protection from the evil eye, and by women as a cure for infertility.

I have paired this wonderful coral centerpiece with bodhi seeds and howlite dyed blue.

Last year I traveled to Nepal with my former student and dear friend Jerry. Kathmandu was our first stop because Jerry had been there earlier that year helping rebuild a couple of schools that were destroyed/damaged in the earthquake.

After Nepal we dropped down into northern India to visit Varanasi, Agra, and Jaipur moving west via India rail.

While in Nepal I was able to purchase a variety of types of beads from local vendors. I have included some of those beads in this necklace.

In my travels to Kathmandu Nepal, I purchased strands of bodhi seeds from street vendors whom I watched drill and string the strands of beads. This piece includes some of those beads. The bodhi fig tree (tree of awakening) is the type of tree that Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher who become known as the Buddha, is said to have attained enlightenment or "Bodhi" circa 500 BCE. Strands of these seeds are commonly worn by pilgrims visiting holy places.

Natural turquoise has become increasingly difficult to find. More frequently, newly made beads that resemble turquoise are not natural turquoise but turquoise that has been “stabilized” or treated in some way, or dyed howlite. Unless I can confirm that the stone is actual natural turquoise, I identify it as dyed howlite or “treated/stabilized” turquoise.