Tubogas Choker Necklace

This is one of my absolute favorite styles of necklace! It has a terrific presence, yet is unfussy enough to wear every day. If you like, it can be dressed up or down.

This lovely vintage choker necklace was crafted in a style known as tubogas. What is tubogas? The word translates to "gas pipe" and refers to a jewelry technique where two rows of metal strips, each with interlocking edges, are intertwined so to create a flexible and hollow tubular necklace (or bracelet, belt, etc. - the applications are numerous) which requires no soldering. Pieces like these rose to popularity in the 1940s, during a scarcity of supplies and materials due to World War II. 

This piece was made a bit later, likely the 1970s or 1980s. It is fashioned from gold-filled metal, with the look and impact of a solid gold piece for a fraction of the expense. The interior of the necklace features a mechanism that automatically curves in a circle, requiring no clasp. When off the neck, the choker curls into a spiral. It is remarkably comfortable and secure to wear - no pinch points in the curling element.

What is “gold-filled?” Gold-filled jewelry is higher quality than gold-plated and lower cost than solid (alloyed) gold. Typically, gold-filled jewelry is required to have a 1/20th (or 5%) weight in gold (usually 14k,) which is affixed/bonded to all exterior portions of the jewelry item (which usually has a brass, or sometimes copper, core.) Gold-plated jewelry has no such standards and as a result usually involves a much thinner coating of gold. Gold-filled jewelry can last a lifetime without showing signs of wear and makes for excellent and durable everyday-wear pieces.

More details:

Measures 17” long, 9.6mm wide, curls when fastened to fit as a choker.

Very good condition

Gold-filled (stamped)

32.3 grams

All purchases arrive in a gift box, wrapped with a ribbon.