Identifying Chinese Porcelain Bracelet Marks: What You Need to Know

Question
I have a Chinese porcelain bracelet (from what I can tell) the inside is gold, the outside looks like porcelain that is slightly discolored. On the inside there are Chinese characters (5 of them) followed by a darker character that looks like a K with a circle around it that is housed within a dark box. I was showing this piece to a coworker who buys a lot of antiques, as I was just about to send it out as a gift and she said I should really look up the 'mark' (meaning the K) as this could be something of value dependent. she said I would be able to search on Google or Dogpile and find something but I haven't been successful. Can you help me in any way. I of course can't read Chinese either! Thanks!

Answer
Hello Heather and thank you for your inquiry. I would suggest that you take a photo of the mark and contact an oriental jewelry appraiser (possibly connected with a local museum) or library. You could also check with one of the online jewelry appraisal sites. They will do research on items for usually under $25. There are many oriental jewelry sites online and also the ebay auction at ebay.com may have something similar that can give you more information. It sounds like a beautiful bracelet and probably worthy of some research. Orientalia is just not my strong field but a picture especially of the mark might get more results. If you do get a picture you can email me at wjarrett4303@charter.net and I will be glad to see if I can give you any further information. Good Luck !