Indian Coin Necklace

A fortune you could wear to dinner.

This gold coin necklace comes from India and dates to the early 20th century, when a woman's jewelry could be as much a family's savings as its adornment. Several dozen coins overlap along both sides like scales, hanging from a fine beaded gold border. Small dark beads run between them, a quiet line against all that shine. The coins show worn relief, in tones that shift from pale to warm. Twenty-four inches long, it falls well below the collarbone.

Savings accounts are seldom this easy to admire.