Roman Dynasty Ancient Bead Choker

$2990.00

A circular strand of ancient Roman-dynasty glass, clay and stone beads in very rare colours of softened pink, mauve and purple, threaded with small lustrous pearls, a translucent yellow cylindrical bead and a pearlescent accent, finished with a gold-filled lobster clasp.

Ancient Roman dynasty glass, clay, agate and stone beads; vintage Japanese pearls; translucent yellow glass; pearlescent shell accent; gold-filled findings (lobster clasp and spacers).

Two thousand years ago, Roman glassmakers along the Mediterranean turned sand, soda and mineral oxides into beads of remarkable colour — soft pinks and mauves drawn from manganese, deeper purples from cobalt, warmth from copper. Wound by hand around a heated metal mandrel, each bead was traded along the empire's routes, carried from the Levant into North Africa and eastward across the ancient world. This strand gathers weathered pink and purple glass beside terracotta, ochre and stone, small lustrous pearls, a single translucent yellow cylinder and a soft pearlescent accent. Two millennia of light and skin have settled the colours into the tones you see now — a quiet catalogue of the ancient world worn close to the skin.