I just saw this strand of Javanese beads advertised.

My first thought was that these are really good-looking beads.

Second thought is that a "beginner" bead collector is going to have a lot of trouble telling these beads from Venetian beads, especially when looking at a photo.

And additionally I think the availability of beads like these, that are not chipped, cracked, dirtied, etc. at a low price will undercut the market for old trade beads. Buyers looking for an ethnic look will likely be satisfied with the new repros.

Copying older bead designs is certainly not a new concept, but I would like to echo birdi's sentiment - too bad the glass bead artists don't create their own new designs rather than copying the old.