1930s Operculum and Abalone Protective Eye Necklace

Do you have some bad juju hanging over you? Are you looking for protection against the evil eye? Or do you just like weird nature oddities? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then this necklace is for you!

This quirky little occulty piece is made of opalescent abalone shell ovals with domed operculum shell "irises." Make no mistake, this eye shape is intentional.

During the 19th century, superstitious Victorians likened operculum to a cat's eye or a protective eye and soon began wearing jewelry adorned with this eyeball shaped shell as protection from evil and to ward off being cursed by the evil eye (as it is believed that eye-shaped jewelry will deflect and absorb negative energy).

Operculum jewelry remained popular until around the 1950s, but personally we cannot get enough of it!

While we can't verify any claims of protecting oneself from evil, we can tell you that operculum does offer protection, but mostly to snails who use it to close themselves into their shells and away from danger.

This necklace is such a good one! The abalone really looks like the whites of an eye and each of the operculum are clear and shiny and really look like irises/pupils. Sometimes they have too much white or are a mucky blend of colors and you lose the eye effect, but not these. Whoever made it picked good pieces.