Quiz time - what do you see?

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Comment by ayis on October 6, 2012 at 11:17

I share most of the fellow members thoughts, these are the kind of jewelry that are very attractive from first sight and need a zoom in and very careful handling to see the important details


The holes do not show any wear and most importantly for me the filgree is honestly quite gross!!! the most important feature are the row of dots that link the two half spheres!!! they give a very misleading archaic and antique feel and if you add the hefty wheight you have the perfect mix to a flase surmising!!!

NOT antique but should make a beautiful material for necklace making

Comment by SARAH CORBETT on October 2, 2012 at 7:54

The feel of these was as smooth as silk, the feeling of something worn for generations, however the silver discs at the ends, and the complete lack of perforation wear led me to encourage Preethi to think again before investing such a sum in them. The dealer also asked for around a third less per gram than I would expect to be offered for a genuine older Moroccan filigree bead....so sometimes a good price can be an indicator of something.....genuine Ouarzguit beads of an exceptional quality were one third more expensive .
The dealer gave no false information to try to sell these he is a very honourable man. His shop is a mind blowing experience for the true jewel lover! I believe we all learned so much within the walls of possibly the finest shop I know of in the south

Comment by ait ouakli on October 2, 2012 at 7:08

the beads are handmade but helped with a modern technics .more i look at more i think about feligree beads from Bali

Comment by Preethi on October 2, 2012 at 7:03

I saw a group of old beads and was then told by the dealer that he picked them up in Tiznit. They had been hand-rubbed to get that look.

I had kept them aside and almost picked them up the next day, but Sarah had a sudden insight, looked at the perforation and noticed that these had never been worn.

Comment by ait ouakli on October 1, 2012 at 17:17

toya. yes it is. the dots are added to fixe the 2 halfs together and make a nice design

Comment by Toya on October 1, 2012 at 15:43

I see what appear to be two half dome silver dangles that have been soldered together with the row of round dots to make a bead. Did these originally hang down as half round ornaments in a larger yemeni piece?

Comment by Preethi on October 1, 2012 at 14:58

Let's wait for more guesses :) These didn't come home with me. They were actually quite heavy at about 40 grams each bead.

Comment by ait ouakli on October 1, 2012 at 13:30

feligree work beads, could be north africa, ethiopia until jemen. i saw almost the same coming from indonisia and Bali

Comment by Patricia Deany on October 1, 2012 at 13:26

These look like very old filigree beads of Middle Eastern origin == I am assuming that you got these from Bel Haj? -- I bought some great antique Moroccan silver beads from him when I was there. The quality of the silver looks high -- wonderful patina.

Comment by Preethi on October 1, 2012 at 13:10

Apologies for the blurry photo, but the light in the store we found these in wasn't very good. These, I thought, were quite interesting and I would love to hear members' thoughts.

A closer view below, if that helps.