Featured Chunky green (plastic/lucite?) bead necklace help please...

I have no idea of the age of this chunky necklace or what the beads are made of - plastic, lucite?
I would be grateful for any thoughts/input.
The beads have a very slight marbled effect and an almost pearlescent finish in certain light.

 

I'm inclined to fairly recent, I've seen similar clasps to that.

 

It looks like it wants to be bakelite, but like Ownedbybear said, the clasp/extender makes it look more recent. I've never seen bakelite beads with a pearlized finish (only lucite and celluloid), but I suppose it's possible they could be restrung vintage bakelite beads, especially because of the color and the way they're cut and graduated.

Is the necklace on the heavy side? Do the beads make kind of a clunky sound when handled? Bakelite is heavier than lucite, celluloid, and newer plastics. You could run the beads under hot water and see if they have a chemical (formaldehyde) smell--in which case they're most likely bakelite or catalin--if there's no smell they're not. There are other tests for bakelite such as rubbing it with a cotton swab dampened with a little Simichrome polish, 409 cleaner, or baking soda. If the cotton swab turns yellow, the beads are bakelite or catalin. If not bakelite/catalin, they could be restrung 1940's-50's-60's lucite or celluloid beads. Probably hard to date them unless you happen to run across some new necklaces that look the same.

 

Thanks for your replies. I don't think they are bakelite but did run them under a very hot tap - no smell at all. They clink rather than clunk if that makes sense and are fairly weighty. If they have been left untouched for a while they get a whitish sort of bloom on them which just rubs off. I have never come across beads of this shape before, I got them in a bag of mixed jewellery from a charity shop about 5 years ago. I love them and do wear them occasionally. They remind me of green rhubarb!

 

I've also noticed the whitish bloom on somewhat heavy plastic bangle bracelets that I've left untouched for a while and where there isn't much air circulation and maybe too much humidity. Other plastic bracelets stored with them don't develop the whitish bloom, so there must be something different about the plastic. They're not bakelite, not lucite, not old, and not new either.

 

Those metal tubes next to the hook closure usually point to India.
The use of hook clasps is ancient, but they are still used today in some parts of the world.

 

That's what I was thinking. Those hooks turn up on Indian and Chinese jewelry; it doesn't look like an old necklace.

 

There is one on eBay with a makers tag that says ZAD.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/353791099649

 

nice find Laura,,,,,,,,,, !!!!!!!!

 

Wow - thank you! I searched eBay but was only looking for vintage. The lobster clasp on mine has been changed to the hook & the tag has been removed. I don't really mind that it's newer as I like it anyway - was really just curious about what it was made of, now I know! Thanks again.