VICTORIAN SCARAB BEETLE RIVIÈRE NECKLACE

An absolutely stunning and rare Victorian Scarab beetle rivière necklace!

Circa 1880, this is Egyptian revival at its finest!

The necklace is made of 26 beetles that have fabulous natural bright green luminescent shells, which are in amazing condition.

Every beetle is set in a closed back 15ct gold setting.

This is a totally original piece with the original barrel clasp.

The necklace sits so nicely around the neck!

And looks super cool!

Length approx: 40cm / 15.8”

Weight approx: 20.5g

The necklace is in fabulous condition - there is a tiny piece of beetle shell missing from the back beetle - see pic

The trend of wearing real bug jewellery became popular in the Victorian period.

People were fascinated with the new discoveries of foreign lands, exotic animals and bugs during this time.

As urbanisation grew, the Victorians become more detached from nature, so using bugs and animals as adornment was a way to bring them a little closer to nature again!

This is a little piece of history!