A digital archive showcasing the extensive collection of jewellery and adornment images shared on the former Ethnic Jewels Ning site over the years. These images have significantly enriched discussions on cultural adornment and its global dispersion.
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Comments
wonderful warm colours!
Frankie yet another ebay find? - I bet you bought them for 3d too. Nice!
The silver beadscan be fron everywhere. The 4 simple ones at the end lokk like semilar to ones i colected in touat,southwest algeria.maroccan borther.
My opinion.the all beads are authentic but the necklace wasnot made in this way at the origije. Some one added orjust mixedbeads
Thanks, A O. No, I`m sure this necklace didn`t originally come from N. Africa and, like you, I`m sure the amber is baltic. But I`m not at all sure that the amber would be from Asia. The amber that I`ve seen from those areas hasn`t looked like this, although I admit the possibility as baltic amber did find its` way there. Also, all amber prayer beads I`ve seen have been much smoother than the round beads here which are quite pitted though that doesn`t reall show in the photo. I think they`re older as beads than the long beads.
The long beads are cross drilled but that could have been done at anytime. I`m completely in agreement that the necklace wasn`t originally made up like this. I asked the seller why there were spare matching beads but they didn`t seem to know. Interesting to hear about the possible Algeria/Morocco silver bead connection.
Ann, it WAS a find but not up to my usual find level.
It really reminds me of the irregular shapes of east african "amber" necklaces, especially those from somalia and eastern ethiopia.
Stringing is obviously modern
Yes, Ayis, though I know there can be some oldish nylon strung necklaces this one looks fairly recent. This amber passes all tests. I find it interesting that a black light test causes all the beads to flouresce opaquely yellow even the translucent and egg yolk beads.
I seem to be getting wind of more modern baltic amber being used in some north african necklaces now. Unsurprising considering the cost of old amber beads found there these days. And that`s an increasingly rare occurrence.
Frankie, what is black light?
Thelma, black light is long wave ultraviolet light (UV-A light). Little pcket torches of it are easily obtained online. I use mine to help identify real amber. According to what the amber contains it will flouresce various colours. Some sulphur content is needed for that. One necklace of bog amber that I have flouresces an amazing violet ( the light itself is violet but the flourescent effect is different somehow).
Not all amber will show flourescence, so it`s not a definitive test. I believe black light is also used to effect in discos.
the pineappleesque spacers in silver metal are from India, when you look closely at them are they two halves joined together?
lots of these were in necklaces in the Market places of Marrakech around 12 years ago.
I agree with East Africa regarding the shapes of the Amber beads, and also the type of material they are made from.
Yes, S., you will see what I say about about the spacer beads in my comment for the previous photo. Good to have it confirmed. Not sure who you are agreeing with about the material of the amber beads. There is no doubt that it is real amber.
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