Featured Beaded items

For years I made bead jewelry so I collected bead stuff at flea markets and antique shops. Sometimes I'd just buy a lot for a few pieces that I wanted. I've started clearing out the attic and opening boxes that were put away long ago. Not all treasures, but this one had a couple of nice pieces.

 

The strung beads (pics 7 & 8) look like candy...can anyone tell what those stones may be?

Several of the items are really attractive...Thanks!

 

nice Iroquois , circa 1900.....

 

Blue john, a kind of agate, would be my guess, but we have some real fans who may have a different opinion.

 

The item in the first pic reminds me of micromosaic lute brooches you find as souvenirs of Italy.

 

That veining doesn’t look right for blue John and it’s rather pinkish. What does it look like under UV?

 

I don’t think they are Blue John, the structure doesn’t look right, also you will often get a bit of yellow in real Bleu Jaune too and there’s none here. But wait for others.

 

It looks like it is a white matrix stone with some purple, which is indeed too pink. Plus the stone looks opaque, whereas Blue John has varying degrees of translucency.

Lepidolite can look like this.

 

They are very purple which I couldn't get right. I think they are some kind of dyed stones.

 

That first item is two sided and hollow as if it fit (tightly!) over a bottle.

 

Would you believe I got it at a yard sale for about $25? I couldn't believe my luck.