From the same gentleman, I bought this (pricey) strand of small white agate beads that have been made crackly. We all know that Chinese beadmakers currently distress a lot of stone beads to make them seem old—but here this effect is added for the sake of an attractive appearance. I am assuming the agate itself has been treated to make it white or yellowish off-white. The distressing may be little more than heating and quenching to cause cracks.

I'll show the rest of the beads I got here later.

JDA