Amber (or not) again.....

Local Steam Fair Charity stall- picked up this necklace for £1 thinking I’d reuse the gold foil beads as the rest is a bit dark and heavy.
Was very unexcited about this necklace and almost forgot it was in the bag. Randomly shone a UV over the big brown beads and they fluoresce.
They aren’t transparent so could they be amber or just plastic bucket beads that randomly fluoresce?.
The other thing that made me wonder when I looked closely is the damage to one bead (in photo) and where the cord has rubbed the bead holes.
Would you take the whole thing apart and float them?. It’s not a thing of beauty as it is.....

 

I don't think they are amber. That whitish spot looks a bit strange, not like chipped amber.
You wanted to use the pretty foil beads for another project, so by all means take it apart. No. you will not be destroying a rare priceless piece of jewellery.

 

From the damage and *squinting* grain (?), they look like painted wood to me.

In addition to the glass, I wouldn't toss the big clunky bead caps... but I probably wouldn't use them in a piece of jewelry, either.

 

That's what it looks like.

I am sure there is some use to be found for big clunky bead caps you wouldn't use in a piece of jewellery.

 

I have been known to throw the odd bit and bob together.

 

Sorry, it was probably a stupid question but I'm still not always sure what I'm looking at .

They definitely aren't wood but some form of plastic. Don't float either so that's confirmed not Amber but the fluorescence threw me off.
I'll go back to plan A which us to reuse the glass foil beads.
Thankyou

 

That's unusual Jivvy!. It looks like you used all sorts in there. Are they the bones of your ancestors at the bottom?

 

That is exactly why it is not a stupid question, so please don't apologize.

 

Since none of us have even identified the material, how could it possibly have been a stupid question?

Bones of somebody's bike chain, I think.

But the lady bugs are genuine.

 

Thankyou

Very cute. Can I ask what the project was?

 

Back when I finally got a UV flashlight & amused myself with trying it out on anything & everything in the house, out of all the stuff in my display cabinet, only a handful of things really glowed or changed color. The paper used for little paper identifying tags that came with some of my seashells glows blue. The mottling on one cowrie shell goes from brown to magenta. A green stone turns to deep red (posted in a thread here & determined to be probably a chrome tourmaline.) And a plastic button with Medusa on it glows brightly.

AJ, could the beads be pressed amber? They actually look a lot like Bakelite to me, but in all the talk about recognizing Bakelite we've had on the site, can't recall fluorescence being mentioned as a property. My sense is that they are a man made material, perhaps meant to resemble amber, & my observation is that some plastics do respond to UV light.

 

"Make something from stuff in existing stash."

Which should be all of my projects from here to eternity.

 

I have beads here with similar marks (wore them to church this morning) that look and feel like bakelite, but don't test like it. There are three dark red beads in the mix that look like yours. I was thinking after I hit them with hot water, they were filthy and needed restringing ASAP, that the red ones reacted more like horn than plastic. So... dunno.

 

Not with that light patch.