I looked at this bead on the African Beads and Memory site and I immediately felt it was newer. Before I saw the size what appeared wrong was the "raised" design, it looks as though it was an afterthought and it doesn't appear to have been fired with the firing that created the blue layer (blue layer over-fired, decor under-fired), this led me to believe it was not a genuine older Kiffa. The blue color and consitency is also "off" a bit from the norm. And last but not least is the size, a little too big in my opinion! The technique is nice though and for a "newer" bead is very well made, I haven't seen similar in design, so I will venture to guess that this may be an attempt to create something alot nicer than the typical run of the mill tourist Kiffas.....still a little hope for the art form!

Thomas