She took it out of my hand and asked who it was for. There was a right answer.
Older than Rome
The cornicello, the little horn. Naples made it famous, but Etruscan and Greek hands were shaping it long before there was a Rome.
It has to twist
Always curved, never straight. The turn was believed to catch what was coming at you and send it somewhere else. A straight horn has nothing to catch with.
Gold, silver, or red coral
Coral came first, and was prized most, because red itself was thought to protect. Gold arrived later as a way to keep the shape without the fragility.
Somebody else has to give it to you
The horn guards against other people's envy. So it cannot be something you acquire for yourself. The gift is not the wrapping. The gift is the charm.
Two came back with us
A gold chain with the horn in enamel, and a red beaded version for the coral color that started all of this. Both made in Italy.