The necklace, located deep in the Atlantic, is currently at Titanic’s home. An Orlando attraction dedicated to artifact displays and a gorgeous liner story.
Operated by International Drive, the attraction features newly preserved items photographed from Titanic debris in 2000. The ship smashed and sank on a maiden voyage from England after struck Iceberg in 1912.
“We’ve been recovering artifacts for a long time, but we’ve been displaying the same thing for a long time, so it’s a huge deal for us to have new things open to the public,” said Tomasina Ray, president and collection director of RMS Titanic Inc., after the gem was revealed.
Visitors to the attraction will see the necklace in the “Life-On-Board” room, which showcases items passengers were using on the ship. The necklace consists of a black glass heart that we believe is intended to mimic the Jet, a rare gem used in mourning gems.
Artifacts “are not just objects, they are symbols,” Ray said. “It speaks of the power of conservation and the great loss of history that arises when these artifacts cannot be recovered in the enormous debris of the seabed.”
This work was initially unrecognised as the sediments merged while the sediments rested about 2.5 miles below sea level for almost 90 years. The discovery and recovery process was thorough, Ray said.
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“It uses little tools and little picks, pulling away the material and layers until you find something, then you excavate around it,” she said. “I keep moving the piece until I find what you have, and this literally rewinds the beads of pieces, pieces by piece.”
Authorities have not tied the necklace to any of the 3,700 people on the Titanic, Ray said.
“We always try it out. We always learn new things because we have new resources to get online, so we have new resources and information that will help others find new things,” she said.
“This is a small, unreadable piece of paper and a small piece of metal, which we found to be quite isolated,” Ray said. “We are currently making insurance claims, but if the person is not surviving, they can’t make a claim.
I-drive attractions recreation in full-scale rooms of ships and gallery with first class areas, cafes and grand steer cases. It holds approximately 200 artifacts recovered from the wreck.
The finale includes an AA 2-ton section of the ship’s hull called “The Little Piece.” The artifact, which moved to the attraction in 2012, is also dodging corrosion and is now undergoing conservation. (The 15 tonnes “Big Piece” is located in the company’s Las Vegas location.)
“As part of our continued commitment to conservation and stewardship of these artifacts, everything we bring out of the seabed is something we keep and care for forever, so that it’s here for the generation that comes,” Ray said.
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