African Amber, Antique Diamond Shape, 29x32mm, with Multiple Holes
SKU: AFE-851
Sale price
$49.00
Shipping calculated at checkout
Out of stock
Description
- Antique African amber diamond shaped bead 29x32mm
- Lovely medium amber color with smooth cone shaped wear around the holes testifying to a long use.
- The center holes were drilled so women could wear these beads in their hair. As you can see in one of the secondary images this bead also has smooth cone shaped signs of wear around the center hole on one side.
- The diamond shape is the rarest and most coveted of the shapes of this type of African amber.
- The material these vintage/antique beads are made of is an early synthetic called phenolic thermosetting resin. It was developed in 1910. Bakelite is the best known brand among several European manufacturers producing faux amber beads, jewelry and household products before World War II.
- Phenolic resin amber beads probably started coming to Africa as a substitute for real Baltic amber in the 1920s and 1930s and trade lasted into the 1950s according to recent research by Rosanna Falabella.
- Several generations of newer resin beads have followed, some better than others, at a variety of prices, but none can approach the beauty and durability of the original phenolic resins which are now almost 100 years old, and wear it well.