| Original Message: Silk Road |
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Wow, I did not expect a response like this! I'm glad I asked....... Travelling the Silk Road was my introduction to collectible beads, and I recommend it to anyone. Ten thousand miles over land through Syria, Eastern Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgistan and China. We travelled with a group, and the oldest fellow travellers were 73 and 71 years old. Some of my bead buying stories for those 'online travellers' : In the Turkish Kurdish city of Van I came across an antiques dealer who spoke not a word of English. He saw me looking at beads and pulled out an amazing strand of small blue glass beads. It had a wonderful patina and (can't remember what that's called in English) silvery layer from age. I fell in love. He showed me on a calculator a very high prize. I then knew nothing about ancient bead prices, or about how to know if they were as old as his friend said (2000 years old). I then made a pretty low counter offer on the calculator. He was genuinely offended, took away the calculator, put the beads away and asked me to leave. I have done quite a bit of haggling, but never had this response. So I left.....but I was already hooked. After an hour I went back to have another look. I let them go through my hands and noticed the silvery patina coming off. I did not know if that meant this patina was not original, but I did not their beauty would not last. (I still had 9000 miles to go). I never asked the price again and left. They will always stick in my mind as the first collectible beads that at the time felt like the most beautiful beads on the planet to me. I have no regrets about not buying them, but if I go back, I do hope to be able to find the shop.... Iran was a great place for buying beads. Lots of genuine turquoise from Mashad, great silverwork and quite a few places with antique and ancient beads. In Esfahan in a corner of the Soukh, I was drawn to a small beads and jewelry shop. The owner designed his own jewelry with the beads with a great eye for colours and textures. It was wonderful to find a genuine bead lover in such a far away place. He explained about different stones and glass beads. He kept talking about this Suleymani stone, and I did not have a clue. I left with a small assortment of different beads,like some Islamic folded beads, and received a 'challenge bead'. He gave me a small carnelian bead with two stringing holes, and asked me to email him a picture of what I made with it. And so I did. When I see or wear this necklace it takes me right back to this tiny shop filled to the brim with amazing stuff. Kashgar, Western China is a centre of commerce in central Asia. The choice of beads was great, but there were many fakes around. For example this little birdy bead that was identified later on this forum as a recent bead. I mostly enjoyed going through the small bowls and boxes with loose beads and mixed junk. Bargaining was essential (as anywhere in China) and the price difference between the first asking price and the final price was much bigger than in any other country I visited. Not having any proper knowledge of knowing the age or origin of the beads, I tried to go with my gut feeling. If I liked the beads I would bargain. However, because I was never sure if they were 2000 or 2 years old, I never bought any really expensive ones. As soon as I came home I found this forum, and having learnt so much more about beads, I guess I'll have to go back again. Maybe start in beijing, and go back to Damascus! All rights reserved by Bead Collector Network and its users |
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