Bead ID Help

Good morning everyone,

I'm looking for some help identifying what type of beads these might be. They are somewhat translucent. Some of the beads have a subtle milky white coloring on them- see last picture. They are cool to the touch and feel like glass. The clasp isn't stamped, and I haven't gotten the chance to test it yet so I don't know if it's sterling silver.

Thanks

 

Flattened ends, swirls in the color and big holes are clues for glass...

 

I'm not sure what the correct definition is for "Peking Glass", but I've seen sellers refer to this as Peking Glass. In any event if you google or Ebay search those terms you will see this type of thing, among others.

 

That was my first thought as well.

 

They are not properly called Peking glass, although the proper names for things are not always the best ones to use to find others that are similar.

These are tough. To my eye they look more like chrysoprase than any other stone. Shade of green ranges widely, but here are some beads that are close:

https://www.livemaster.com/item/26953631-ornamental-stones-chrysoprase-beads-46-cm



As kyra said, large holes are an argument against stone & for glass, but the holes do not seem to be uniform in size: most are small enough that the knot holds the bead in place; in some spots the bead hole is large enough to slip over the knot. Shapes are somewhat variable & haziness noted in some beads. Is the surface finish a bit satiny, not super glassy smooth? These are sending out both kinds of signals, really hard to tell.

 

Just my experience with this clasp, I’ve never found a silver one yet.

 

Ok thanks!

 

The holes are not uniform. Even the same bead will have a large hole on one end and a small hole on the other. There are also a lot of fractures and cracks on the beads, yet the surface is completely smooth. I would expect glass to just chip or break and not develop interior cracks. Some beads have swirls of milky color and are slightly lighter or darker in certain spots. I don't know if that indicates anything. I think the finish is more satiny, but it's hard for me to decipher if its different from glass because the beads are shiny.

 

You need to find someone with a gem tester, they can tell you if they are glass or some kind of stone.

 

This actually is strong support for stone. When I was beading, found this was often the - annoying - case with stone beads, making it difficult to select an appropriate size of cord. It doesn't tell us what the stone is. Could be dyed.

 

I have a diamond tester. Is that the same thing?

 

Do you know why the holes are not always uniform with stone beads? I'm assuming the holes are placed by a machine so uniform holes seem like they should be easy to achieve

 

I'm not so sure they always are done by machine. When you buy a strand of semiprecious stone beads, you may find that some beads have holes too small for the cord that works for most of the others. For bead shapes like briolette where the hole is drilled through a point, it seems there are always a few with the hole too close to the tip that snap when you're stringing them. Because the diameter of the hole may not be the same all the way through, I learned that sometimes I could string a bead from one side when it was too small to get the needle started in from the other. India does a lot of lapidary work of this sort & seems still to be largely hand labor.

 

If it only tests diamonds I don't think so. I have a gem tester that starts with glass and goes up to diamond.

 

My first thought was glass. Some of the bead ends are dented in and look to be molded. I've never seen a stone bead yet with that indent.