From Prism Volume II 2024: From The Vault, Assael’s Coveted Coral

By Jennifer Heebner, Editor in Chief

Jewelry brand Assael loves Coral almost as much as it does Pearls, which is why it has a magnificent carved Coral necklace in its permanent collection. How it landed there is quite the story.

In 1965, British jeweler Asprey approached renowned Italian Coral merchant Liverino SRL (now Enzo Liverino 1894) with a commission from the royal family: a large Angel Skin coral beaded necklace.

Present-day owner of Liverino, Vicenzo Liverino, recalls when his father Basilio obtained the Japanese-origin Coral and sent it to master carvers in Beijing. The carvers were part of a cooperative founded by Emperor Qianlong in the 1700s and then dissolved by Chairman Mao, during the Cultural Revolution.

Over 10 years, the material was cut into 23 individual beads graduating in size from 21–32 mm. Each took about five months to carve, and Peggy Grosz, senior vice president of Assael, suspects that multiple carvers were involved due to slight variations in bead style.

Asprey was notified when the necklace was complete, but by then, the jeweler no longer had record of which royal wanted it. Surprisingly, Liverino Sr. was thrilled. He had fallen in love with the necklace and placed it in the Liverino Museum in Torre del Greco, Italy, where it remained for 40 years.

Meanwhile, Christina Lang Assael, previous owner of the Assael brand established by her husband Salvador J. Assael—responsible for bringing Tahitian cultured black Pearls to market—had become a Coral client of Liverino Jr. In 2016, she visited his family’s museum where she saw the necklace.

“She asked to purchase it and was refused,” recounts Grosz. “However, after having made quite a large purchase of other Coral pieces, she convinced Vicenzo to sell it to her.”

His change of heart? Liverino and Assael were pals.

“She was always so kind,” he recalls of his friend and business associate who died in 2022. “You cannot say ‘No’ to Christina.”

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