The following description was prepared by William Gross:
From earliest times, man has tried to protect himself from misfortune by the use of objects which he considered holy or otherwise (e.g., magically) potent. Amulets and talismans are items generally worn around the neck or wrist, carried in a pocket or purse or hung on a wall. They are meant to protect or aid those who carried or wore them. The Hebrew word for amulet, kame‘a, has the root meaning "to bind". Jewish amulets are usually comprised of texts (either letters or graphic symbols) that are inscribed on some sort of material; some may also contain plant matter or precious stones. The texts of amulets usually include holy names that are believed to have the ability to affect reality, along with incantations summoning angels or other magical powers. For the most part, an amulet has a specific purpose: to ease childbirth, facilitate recovery from illness, improve one’s livelihood, and so on, but in the modern world many are also made for general protection.
Amuletic necklaces of this elaborate nature are very rare indeed. There is another simpler one of gold in the Gross Family Collection with some of the same symbols as amuletic charms. This example has 19 different magic charms hanging from it, each one having an amuletic purpose against the evil eye: an elongated bell, a cast scissors, a cruciform medallion, a square piece with a star pattern, a cast bird (rooster?), a cast fish, a red elongated-shaped carnelian in a silver sleeve, a cast unidentified animal, a cast teapot "finjan" a red (broken) piece of amber(?), a hand in a "feig" gesture, a cast rifle, a formed hamsa with a "Ben Porat Yosef" inscription, a square with an apparent Arabic inscription, a cast pestle, an unidentified cast rod of some sort, a blue bead, a set piece of glass in a silver case over a colored paper on which is written the 42-letter name of God and a cast padlock and key. The use of such numerous elements is characteristic of several such Jerusalem necklaces, but the hand echoes the forms brought to Jerusalem by immigrants from Morocco.
Inscription: On Hamsah: Ben Porat Yosef Shadai Jerusalem the Holy City On glass-covered medallion: Ana Ba-koach in 42-letter name