Resin, Red Faturan Amber, Collector/Designer Set of 15 beads, 12x10 to 24x18mm
SKU: ORR-235
Sale price
$45.00
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Only 1 in stock
Description
- Collector Designer Set ot 15 red Faturan simulated amber beads
- Size range from small ovals 13x11mm to large centerpiece 24x18mm
- Faturan is brand name (like Bakelite) for a phenolic thermosetting resin, named for a Saudi chemist believed to have invented this variant.
- A factory in Hamburg, Germany produced the beads and exported them mostly to East Africa and the Middle East starting around 1910.
- All phenolic thermosetting resins oxidize, taking on a darker color with age. Faturan has the wonderful characteristic that it always turns red with oxidation, regardless of the original color. From this came the name "Cherry Amber" used for red amber beads in Turkey and other parts of the Middle East
- Production of Faturan and other resins made in Hamburg slowed in the 1940s due to wartime supply shortages, and ended when Hamburg was devastatingly firebombed by the Allies in July of 1943.
- This makes the youngest Faturan beads over 80 years old and many are antique (ie over 100 years old). Worry beads and prayer strands made of Faturan amber resin command very high prices among collectors today.