huge simulated amber bead

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huge simulated amber bead

Posted by Betty on April 25, 2014 at 6:04pm

Any thoughts on this, pls? It's a huge bead (5cm in diameter, 4cm high). The beads are obviously Moroccan and not old. The pendant was bought somewhere in the Balkan region in the 1990s. It's not what I collect, but I got it for a song and was so impessed by the size of this bead :-)

Comments

Eva Baby April 25, 2014 at 8:45pm

I don't know anything...........our Moroccon experts are asked......but it Looks very nice!
Toya April 25, 2014 at 9:34pm

I have some similar beads. I think it is Phenolic amber, which is a plastic resin made in the past and used in Morocco and other Middle Eastern places. The cracks are typical of this type of substance. However, I am no expert. Very pretty!
ait ouakli April 26, 2014 at 9:12am

nice item Betty. i agree with toya who wrote an expert comment and telling us being not expert ;-)
Betty April 26, 2014 at 10:03am

Thanks a lot, Toya, Eva and Ait. @ Toya: it was actually the tell-tale cracks that I liked especially (apart from the enormous size)J.

Do you know where this phenolic amber was produced? It feels very smooth and this bead has a slightly lighter coloured "ring" around the middle which looks as if it had been covered by some sort of band for a while. But made the difference in colour is a result of the production process...

Again, thanks for your help!
Toya April 26, 2014 at 5:18pm

Betty-According to Beadcollector.net the phenolic amber beads were produced in Germany from 1920 to 1940. I love the cracks and also the color. I will post a photo of my beads soon.
Betty April 26, 2014 at 6:37pm

How interesting, Toya! Thanks very much for sharing this info. I look forward to seeing your beads here. In the meantime I also had a look and found that lots of them are on offer on ebay (in all shapes and sizes, though rarely as big as this:-)).
ait ouakli April 26, 2014 at 8:29pm

yes, the company was in north germany and later on moved to marocco. if sold or just chnaged place, i have no idea but i know that the all fabric was transfered to marocco where the production was continued
Betty April 26, 2014 at 9:57pm

This is getting ever more fascinating, Ait. Was that company called "Traun"?

It would be so interesting to know whether the Moroccan company still makes those beads...
ait ouakli April 26, 2014 at 10:34pm

yes Betty you got it, it is the family name of heinrich traun in Hamburg. his father heinrich adolf traun was the inventor of this. Called that time faturan

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huge simulated amber bead

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