Featured Sterling necklace with malachite origin

Hey all- long time no post from me!
I have a necklace I bought a while back that I'm wondering about. It looks like it's from mexico but is only marked as 925 on the back of the pieces with the stones on them and on the clasp. However, I suspect the chain and clasp portion is not original to the piece- the bib part of the necklace is very solid and seems well made and then the links are rough edged and can be bent in two with no effort. Like thick tinfoil! Also the chain was extremely long (the necklace was probably about 20 inches which to me seems weird- I think the "bib" looks like it should be worn near the base of the neck so I removed links to shorten it. Anyways if this necklace were from mexico, in my experience, that would likely be marked on the clasp which in this piece I don't think is original. Does anyone have any thoughts on origin and date?

 

Are the stones greener than they are showing in the photo? Not seeing malachite there. Because it came up in another recent thread, I'm going to suggest variscite. Others will have things to say about the silver work. Pretty piece & yes, meant to be worn near the collar bone, not on the bosom.

 

interesting! I hadn't put much thought into the stone- I can try a closer up to give a better look at the picture!

ok glad you agree about the length! When I put it on at the length it was before I couldn't handle how wrong it looked!

 

Here is a closeup of the stone for closer inspection- indeed I'm sure they could be something other than malachite, it was just my assumption!

 

If I had only the middle stone to go by, I'd probably think malachite too. However, two other stones do not look like it. Variscite is still my best guess - they don't look right for turquoise either - but there are just so darn many rocks & minerals in this world. Chrysocolla also a possibility.

 

They look like chrysacolla to me.
Peru uses a lot of chrysocolla.

 

wow I'd never even heard of chrysacolla! looking at pictures of chysacolla it does look bluer in general than the stones in my necklace but I see some stones seem to have greener bits! Well now I'm curious- wish I had a way at home to test!

 

What is bluer? The photos are dark,what color is the dark part?

 

That's not variscite; that's eilat! Or if it's not it's doing a good job of fooling me. The necklace looks Israeli.

 

Could be. My gem book says eilat is chrysocolla intergrown with malachite & turquoise. If eilat, all our answers are correct.

 

I considered that, but decided on pure chrysocolla being more likely.
Most Israeli jewellery of this age would have some mark saying it is from Israel.

 

Not all though.

 

True.

 

lovely. I get a skonvirke feeling.

 

I just mean the limited pics I've now seen of chrysocolla seem to have more lighter blue tones mixed in where as the stones on my necklace seem green only with the darker bits being darker green (to my eyes and least)

 

I'm thankful for these suggestions- even if I don't find a definitive answer, I do love sifting through pics trying to find similar examples!

 

The photos are too dark and not in focus to say exactly what the stones are.