The dominant colours in Italian traditional jewellery are red and gold. For necklaces the jewellers often used coral. The production of coral jewellery was a major industry in the south of Italy since prehistoric times. Tourists loved to buy coral jewellery in fashionable shapes, but it was also very popular with Italian women, who valued it for its colour and amuletic qualities. Coral branches were often left in a natural state for amulets, but beads for necklaces were always shaped in the 19th century.

The pendant heart also had spiritual qualities for its original owner. Women throughout Catholic Europe commonly wore Christian symbols, such as the cross and heart, as jewellery. The heart also represented its modern values of love and devotion.

This necklace was bought for £4 as part of the Castellani collection of Italian Peasant Jewellery at the International Exhibition, Paris, 1867.