MADE-TO-ORDER, PRE-ORDER. IF IN STOCK, IT WILL SHIP OUT PROMPTLY, BUT IF NOT, WE WILL SHIP ONCE IT'S MADE IN AN ESTIMATED TWO WEEKS.

This necklace showcases a stunning hand-carved mother-of-pearl button created in a family workshop in the holy city of Bethlehem.

Palestinian artisans in Bethlehem have manufactured mother-of-pearl artifacts since the 17th-century. Vatican vaults contain many boxes of their work, some three centuries old.

Their trade first garnered notoriety in the west at the New York World Fair in 1852 when two Palestinian brothers, Giries and Ibrahim Mansur, exhibited their work.

Their craft developed notably in the 19th and 20th centuries and continues to be carried out in local workshops by artisans still using traditional processes.

Susan owns several antique Bethlehem pearl buttons in her personal collection, and was thrilled to find a family still creating them!  

The pearl button hangs from an antique, one-of-a-kind, Victorian-era cut steel button.

The antique button is one and only, chosen just for you, and so yours will not be identical to the image.

In this piece:

• Mother-of-pearl bird flower hand-carved in Bethlehem in a small family workshop using a centuries-old process 
• Antique cut steel button, circa 1880-1890
• Silver-plated pewter setting cast today in the USA
• The silver-plated brass chain which can be worn long at 32” or doubled up and worn short at 16”