Here are some of my purchases from Bassam. There is a granite strand from Mali That I got for $35 and a modern made replica strand that he sold me for $25. The story behind the modern strand is that a friend of Basaam's who spends a lot of time in India taught the villagers how to make replicas of ancient beads. They now do this as an industry to support themselves. I actually tend to feel bad about buying from Basaam sometimes because he gives me such steep discounts on his goods.