BELT BUCKLE Rare Greek Religious Monk Carved Icon

You are bidding on the loop half of a very rare hand carved mother of pearl belt buckle that once graced the robe of a Gnostic Greek Monk on Mount Athos, Greece. The religious icon carving depicts The Annunciation. It is trimmed in brass and in good condition, considering it's age which is most likely over 100 years old. There are three letters carved in a square in the middle of the icon. I believe the first letter is Omicron, the last appears to be Sigma or Epsilon and I cannot identify the symbol in the middle.

I was given this rare piece by my mother, a beautiful soul, who was born in Greece and was 91 when she died in 2002. She told me she had the other half but couldn't find it and that it belonged to a Gnostic Greek Monk on Mount Athos. That is all the information I have been given.

After searching the internet unsuccessfully for any more information, I brought it to an antique dealer who stated that it could be from 1700 to very early 1900 and that it was a rare piece. He mentioned that it was very difficult to date it as these belt buckles were all constructed in the same way.

This piece actually looks better in person....in order to capture the details I had to darken the photos a bit.

Thank you for your interest and best of luck bidding!