Featured Bought beads, too.

These were cheeeep. I thought at first that the amber were plastic with that modern clasp, but the UV torch spoke otherwise. The other set has a nice Chinese export style silver clasp. I can't decide what the beads are. They do fluoresce, but they don't look amber. Not stone or glass either, they don't feel heavy or cold enough . Hm.

 

Could you show us a photo of the fluorescence?

 

Surely. It's greenish yellow, quite similar to how some ambers behave but not the same. I do think the beads are organic of some kind, looking at them. If they're amber, they're the oddest I've ever seen.

 

Do items made from Tagua nut fluoresce?
I'm a bit embarrassed that I don't know...
EDIT: Tagua glows an almost dead white under my UV lamp.

 

I think it is amber.

Asia has some very different types of amber. Burmese red amber, Chinese beeswax amber and Sumatran blue amber for instance.

 

Oh, splendid. It’s not a colour I’ve ever seen before. From a distance with the banding, I almost thought it was an agate, till I picked it up and looked. Thanks aj! That’s two amber necklaces for the price of three cups of coffee.

 

Yup. It might be excavated and look odd. It sure acts like amber. I bet the not-so clever blokes sold it as plastic!

 

I’ve been down rabbit holes. There’s a colour called roasted old beeswax which is quite close on some examples.

 

Of course there is.
They may be roasted and old, but beautiful beads nonetheless.

 

It’s not the most flattering term, is it!

I bought both strings at a little indoor “car boot”, which is really a table top. They have one stall which raises money for the church hall which hosts it, and these came from there. Apparently donated by someone who was a secretary to John Profumo, but whether or not that’s true, who knows.

anyhoo, normally one of the sellers there gets to the donations first, but her car had broken down! Not that I’d wish that on her, she’s a nice woman, but my gain.