925 Silver Old Roman Glass Garnet Bead necklace Afghanistan Jewelry art A72

This is a beautiful 925 Silver  Old Roman Glass Bead necklace 

from Afghanistan.  

The glass beads are all in good shape and spaced with natural Garnet stone beads.  

Some history of Roman Glass:

The Roman Empire began extending around the birth of Christ under the rule 

of Julius Caesar who became appointed dictator in 44 BC and reached its 

territorial peak under Emperor Trajan. Its borders extended from Spain, 

North Africa and England to the East and India Israel and Afghanistan to the 

West. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in 476 AD however the Eastern

portion endured until and invasion of the Turks brought about its end in 

1453.

By the end of the first century AD large scale manufacturing resulted in the 

establishment of glass as a commonly available material in the Roman world.

Interesting many sailing vessels were made of Glass. The invention of glass 

blowing techniques by the Phoenicians aided this endeavor.

Glass making reached its peak around the second century AD.

The major component of the glass is silica, which during the Roman period 

was sand quartz), which contains some alumina (typically 2.5%) and nearly

8% lime.^[ Alumina contents vary, peaking around 3% in glasses from the 

Western Empire remaining notably lower in glasses from the Middle East.

Glasses formed of silica and soda are naturally soluble, and require the

addition of a stabilizer such as lime or magnesia. Lime was the primary 

stabilizer in use during the Roman period, entering the glass through

calcareous particles in the beach sand, rather than as a separate 

component.

Roman glass has also been shown to contain around 1% to 2% chlorine, 

in contrast to later glasses. This is thought to have originated either in 

the addition of salt (NaCl) to reduce the melting temperature and 

viscosity of the glass.

Aqua a pale blue-green color is the common natural color of untreated 

glass. Many early Roman vessels are this color.

The natural aqua shade of the glass can be intensified with the addition 

of copper. During the Roman period this was derived from the recovery 

of oxide scale from scrap copper when heated, to avoid the contaminants

present in copper minerals. Copper produced a translucent blue moving

towards a darker and denser green.

Colorless glass was produced in the Roman period by adding manganese 

oxide. This oxidized the iron (II) oxide to iron (III) oxide, which although

yellow, is a much weaker colorant, allowing the glass to appear colorless.

The use of manganese as a deodorant was a Roman invention first noted 

in the Imperial period; prior to this, Antimony rich minerals were used.

I know whoever gets this pendant will treasure it on its beauty. 

Also there will be a special feeling knowing one is wearing a piece 

of Roman Empire history.

Necklace Length: 20" long ( 50.8 cm long )