Newbie here - Questions about coral necklaces

Thank you for the welcome.

I have been searching and searching the Internet to try and find some information on some mandarin coral necklaces that I have, which my search was basically unsuccessful. So then I thought I'm going to search for a forum where possibly I can get some help in figuring out just what I have, so here I am. I would greatly appreciate any input on these necklaces as like I said, I haven't had much success in searching.

I am going to upload some pictures and I'm hoping I'm making this post where I'm supposed to and hope I get the pictures posted correctly too.

Thanks in advance.

 

Only one of those necklaces looks like coral. The other looks like jade. Are the clasps silver? The address is in Japantown. What does the handwriting say? Sept 21, 1937 or 1939? And what follows?

Debora

 

I'm not very knowledgeable about jewelry at all, Debora, but I thank you for your reply. The orangish-colored necklace, the only thing it says on the clasp is GOLD FLD, and there's only a small piece of clasp left on the green necklace and I can't see anything written on it.

These belonged to my great aunt (my grandma's sister) and they were given to me years ago and I've finally gotten them out wanting to figure out just what they are and if they are of any value? Thank you for your help.

 

And what does the handwriting say? What part of the world did she live in?

Debora

 

What appears to be written in pencil at the bottom of the label/card, it says Sept 21, 1937 - ? 7 years - ? Ericka death

The little white sticker says "Toots necklace, Joel wife" (Toots was my great aunt and Joel was her husband). They lived in Canada (Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan) - immigrated from Sweden.

Also, my husband weighed these things for me and the orangish-? coral necklace weighs 43.4 grams and the green necklace weighs 39.2 grams

 

The way it is used on the box, 'Mandarin' seems more like a brand name than like a variety of coral, so searching for mandarin coral may not get you far. I do think they are Chinese in origin.

 

Welcome Teresa.

I agree, Mandarin is a brand name or the name of a shop.
The coral is Pacific coral. The green beads look like jade.

 

Agree. Would think Mandarin the brand. And Mandarin Services sounds more like an import company than a retailer. Case, card, etc. not a high end jewelry presentation. But $12.50 seems like a lot of money for a coral necklace with gold filled clasp in 1937. At least in U.S. dollars. According to the internet, it's the equivalent of $232.72 today. Perhaps the price is Canadian dollars? But even then...

Debora

 

Mandarin Services isn't in the 1937 San Francisco City Directory.

Debora

 

In the 1936 San Francisco reverse directory, 2012 Bush is the residence of Matsuoka Atow. In 1947, he was doing business as Matsuoka Atow Co. and selling "imitation-pearl jewelry." Appears to have been an importer of low end jewelry from the late 1920s into the late 1940s.

Debora

 

A Japanese importer bringing in Chinese stuff.

 

Thank you very much to everybody for helping me out with these necklaces.

Last week I called the closest jeweler to me which is 60 miles and asked if I could bring them in to be looked at and he wanted me to bring them in and pay $400.00 ($200.00 each) and they would send them in to somewhere else. I do not have the means to pay the $400.00 to have them looked at.

I would like to sell these. Does anyone know what a good asking price would be for each of these necklaces?

Thank you.

 

Nor should you do that. They are nice, but neither is worth $200.

 

For an idea of pricing, you can do what we would do, do an eBay search for items matching the description of yours & specify only sold listings. Do not use asking prices as a guide.

 

I did do some searching on ebay and I also tried Ruby Lane and WorthPoint but the problems I was having, especially with the coral ones is that the clasp on this necklae is different than almost all the others I've seen and also I noticed a lot of the clasps on other similar coral necklaces will say 10K, 14K, etc., where this one only has the "GOLD FLD" and so I don't know how big of a role the clasp plays into the price - for example - the 10K or 14K versus this gold filled?

 

Greetings, Teresa81!

 

Would you please tell me how to make my search on ebay for sold listings (instead of current listings)? Thank you.

 

Teresa, at the far right of the home page next to "Search" is a link called "Advanced." Click there. You'll see "Search" again and right below it are three squares. Check the one on the bottom "Completed listings" and then click on "Search." What will come up is a list of both completed and sold listings. That will give you an idea of how many jade/coral bead necklaces have been on offer and which sold i.e. supply and demand.

Debora

 

Your necklace was identified as "Pacific Coral." You'll want to include that with your search terms.

Debora

 

It might be easier to start on etsy and see what's on offer. Asking prices appear to be quite modest for coral beads.

https://www.etsy.com/search?q=pacific+coral+beads

Debora