Antique drawn dark blue seed beads with red and yellow stripes
4mm diameter on 20-inch strand (excludes raffia), only one available
This rare color combo is perfect for adding an additional layer of interest to African trade bead necklaces
Because the colors and patina match trade beads of the same vintage, antique seed beads are ideal spacers to use with them
New seed beads are less expensive than real antique or vintage ones. So they are now being exported in bulk to Africa to be strung like old ones, and sometimes they are even "antiqued" with dirt and other substances.
You can tell old seed beads from new ones because they are less regular in size and shape, often more flat than rounded at the ends, and they are never bright and shiny, nor uniformly matte like acid etched or sandblasted beads. Instead they develop a lovely smooth semi-matte patina.
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