I have had this piece for MANY years, and never thought of selling it, because its original red paint was chipped here and there. Today I decided to see what would happen if I tried to restore it.
A few q tips, pliers, and some red nail polish later, voila! It's symmetric again, and has that wonderful folksy, home made look. In the Great Depression of the 1930's Women did not have money for fancy jewelry. They used whatever was at hand. Wood, wire, beans, a celluloid clasp, and some celluloid links...perhaps from another broken piece...who knows the history behind this...we can only guess.
The wires are covered in green thread...they are not corroded. Color is more a dark dusty rose than the deep red shown here. Perhaps your relations were caught in the dust bowl, or had a hard time in the 30's. This is history, and you can own it and wear it proudly. In these pictures, you can see a green wire where a seed pod was. Today I found and replaced 2 more pods, that were missing, so there are 5 on the center wooden disk, not 4 as shown, and nine hanging below.
measurements:
4" long
2 inches wide
1 " deep

This item is sold from a vintage boutique in Las Vegas, Nevada.