First photo- taken in August 2016 - shows the thin cherry red "skin" on a clear amber yellow interior. Note that you can see the skin color only on the thin pieces. On thicker pieces, it looks like the interior is red since the original surface on the other side is red and the material is pretty transparent. A faceted bead from the same set is shown at the top of the picture.

Second pic was taken today - the clear yellow pieces are now tinged with the red color, turning them orange. It may take 10-20 years for them to become the cherry red color of the original surface. In the literature, there were reports of this color change happening in weeks. The chemical reaction that causes the color change at room temperature would be expected to vary with the exact formulation used, impurities in the mix, etc. etc. As stated before the phenolic resin chemists found ways to stop this from happening eventually, but with dozens of companies making similar products, I imagine the results were all over the place.

I accidentally bumped the tray a few months ago, otherwise the pieces would be in the exact same spot as they were 3 years ago.

I haven't fractured any other cherry amber jewelry beads so maybe I'll add that to my project list. I pretty much know what I'll find since when I ream cherry red beads enough to remove the thin skin from inside the hole, the resulting sawdust is amber yellow.

Jamey, do you have any fractured beads or pieces that can show that the cherry red color goes all the way through?