Old necklace need help identifying

[melob]

My mother has had this necklace for awhile and could never understand how the clasp worked. She gave it to me and I figured it out, opening the clasp we noticed it had been stamped with '750' indicating (to my knowledge) that it is 18k gold. I'm unsure if necklace is made of beads, pearls or stones, though it is very heavy and solid with imperfections. The clasp appears to be a box style/pearl style clasp which is why I'm assuming that it is quite old (I had never seen one before) and intrigued me to find out more. The colouring of the beads/stones/pearls appear to be orange and it isn't very lustrous (even in the light it appears to be matte). I rubbed it against my teeth to find they are not incredibly smooth, either. The colouring is not the same on each bead and even the shape is not identical throughout the necklace.

If anyone can help (a super newbie) identifying anything about this necklace, from the time period, style, materials, location, etc that would be incredibly helpful. Thank you!

 

[urseberry]

Could be coral.

 

[stracci2000]

Yes, looks like coral to me, also.
I would guess it to be Italian made, as Italy was once famous for harvesting red/orange coral.
Google "coral bead 18k necklace" and you will see similar items.
Ebay has a few listing that look like yours, as well.

 

[lambskin]

coral.

 

[jewelrymouse]

You have a fantastic natural coral necklace with a gorgeous clasp. It is quite valuable, so be sure to take good care of it. It's hard to date or to say where its from. Many sellers of coral necklaces call every necklace "Victorian," but they are not. Your clasp, at least, probably dates to the last 50 years.