Featured Mark on 19th century gold and coral Italian(?) necklace, help please.

A delicate necklace with cross pendant. The necklace is 41 cm/16.14" long.
Similar ones I have seen were Sicilian, between 1860 and 1890. The last owner said it had been in her Croatian family since at least 1900, maybe longer.
It looks like the necklace has been shortened, it is not symmetrical. So I'll be looking for a broken antique chain with the right links to replace the missing part.

It tests as 10k gold and there is a mark on one of the rings of the tube clasp. This is where it gets tricky, of course.
10k gold wasn't legal in Croatia in the 19th century, or now, and the mark doesn't look like a Croatian/Yugoslavian mark. So for now I am sticking with Sicily.
Coral was found and was hugely popular in both regions.
Italy was united in 1861, but didn't get a state marking system until 1872, and since then marking is rarely consistent.
Before 1872 the different regions had their own marks. For Sicily this could also have been a Sardinian mark, since it had been part of the kingdom of Sardinia.
Regional marks were used after 1872 as well.
I know this is obscure territory even for someone familiar with marks, but I thought I'd ask anyway, you never know.
Anyway, here is the little sweetheart:




Same mark, the other way around


Thank you for looking.

 

I need a drool emoji! It doesn't look 19th century to me, more like the 1950s, but I could be all wrong.

 

Might it have been made/altered for a child, for the protective powers of coral & the cross? The workmanship seems too crude & the gold fineness too low for Italy proper. It wouldn't necessarily have to have been made somewhere coral is harvested. Beads like this must have been widely exported, no?

 

The whole piece looks strange.... excessive wear on the jump rings and connecting ring of the clasp end.The top of the cross has a flared end and the other ends do not and the larger ring at the top of the cross???

 

I thought the same of the end on the left, even when I first held it in my hand. So I measured all ends with one of those very precise digital things, and they are exactly the same width. It is an optical illusion. The top bead is bigger, which adds to the illusion.
The larger ring is something I see a lot on 19th century European regional jewellery, which is usually not as refined as what we call city jewellery.

 

The last owner said it had been worn as a first communion cross in her family. Several generations of girls wore this to their first communion. Maybe on sundays as well.
I don't know if it started out life as a child's necklace. I think it was originally longer, it is not symmetrical. It fits me comfortably, but I would prefer it to look more balanced, hence the hunt for a matching piece of gold chain.

The workmanship is quite normal for Italian regional jewellery, which was rarely as elegant and refined as jewellery from Florence or Naples.
Remember, regional jewellery is folk art, just like any other folk art. Sometimes it is rather crude, sometimes more refined, but it is not city jewellery. It is as simple as that.
Here is a 19th century pin from Sardinia (Sardegna digital library):

And an earring:


Italy is one of the few countries in Europe where low finenesses were and are used. To the disgust of jewellers in countries where anything under 14 or even 18k was not considered gold.
In Croatia, where the last owner lived, 10k wasn't used. Croatia is just across the Adriatic from Italy, and has had strong ties with Italy since Venetian times. It is said Marco Polo was born on the Croatian island of Korcula.

The only European countries that I know of which used, and still use, low finenesses are Britain, Germany and Italy. So the cross was made in one of those three. Since the style is Sicilian, my bet is on Italy.
10k was used for Italian jewellery before the introduction of state assay marks. In rural areas goldsmiths could have continued to use 10k instead of 8k, especially if they recycled old jewellery.
These are the official Italian state assay marks, with the maligned 8k on the right:

 

As I was thinking about Italian goldsmiths, it suddenly occurred to me that there are big variations of quality even in the cities.
Years ago I was on holiday in Florence and bought a pair of pretty gold filigree earrings from a goldsmith's shop. That night I wanted to wear them, and as I was putting them on, the connecting ring of one fell off.
I went back the next day and the shop assistant wouldn't give me a refund, she accused me of tearing the ring with pliers. Sure, I always carry pliers with me on holiday, since ripping jewellery to pieces in hotel rooms is one of my favourite pastimes. When I said I would tell everyone in the hotel where I stayed about the shoddy workmanship and bad service, she offered me another pair. (This was pre-internet.) Anyway, I didn't want another pair that was going to fall apart, I wanted my money back. I insisted and she finally gave me a refund.

 

I never saw a cross like that with the coral.... love it.

 

Thank you @Marko , I love it too. I am antique coral mad.

 

What’s the proper color name of the coral? Is it salmon?

 

It is often classed as salmon, but probably started life as red. Antique coral gets paler with age. You can revive the colour, but I prefer the antique look. Not just the colour, but it is also duller than coral from after ca 1910.

 

Thanks for the clues. I will try to look for it.

 

No useful information here, that I can see.
https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Antique-Vi...endant-Charm-/323252119033?_mwBanner=1&_rdt=1
Will keep looking for the mark.

 

Thank you, it is still good information, because it is nice to see the price for others. Mine was nowhere near that price, and it has a necklace as well. But the asking price in the listing is not unreasonable for a 19th century gold and coral pendant.
Alas, no marks. Mine are on the clasp, the one in the listing could have lost the necklace, or never had a necklace. Jewellery is often split up in and inheritance, to prevent family rows.
Even Dutch Frisian gold or silver caps like this one, worn under a white lace cap, were cut up:

The decorated ends were made into brooches like this silver one, I come across them regularly:

The cap itself went to the melter and the money was split between the heirs.
This is what it looks like when it is worn under the lace cap:

 

I think I see a tiny star. Do you have this still?

 

Yes I do, where did you see it, @i need help (Hunting)?

 

Maybe since you have it out, you could put more pictures of the mark, I’m still looking for this.

 

Thanks, Hunting, I noticed that bit, it is like a lozenge shape with a tiny dot near the lower right, I edited the photo a bit: