Don't be sorry to miss the recent threads, Stefany, since one thread discussed clasps, which you don't have one! and the other discussed the dragon puffy pendants and there are no dragons to be seen on your beads. these beads belong right where they are now in this japanese cloisonne 101 type of thread. :) Well, alright!

I can't think of even one bead that I've ever seen to compare to these, I like them alot, thank you for showing them here. They must be old, in my experience the old beads are very seldomly seen, kept safe by their owners and worn on occasion if at all. Still, no real understanding of why there have been nothing to compare on eBay, etc.

Some beads resemble italian glass millefiori so much, like its cloisonne on top of a finished millefiori. Can guess that is what they are sold under/as sometimes. I also really admire these hypnotic designs as you surely admire in them to be sure. There are other beads in your necklace that resemble the Chinese Mandarin court hollow enamle beads. I wanted to add a pic to join in but may have nothing to compare.

The 4 and 5 petal floral designs dominate the Chinese art, the unusual becomes anything depicted that is other then a flower. I have been interested in learning to tell Japanese cloisonne apart from Chinese, as you may find there are so few examples to be 'seen.' Since your Japanese cloisonne is so different then the Chinese cloisonne of same general era, I'll enjoy to ever see any thing like your's.

I've wondered if the vase and cloisonneware artists were also the bead artists and doubt that they were. The vases are more expensive/valuable. The beads were probably done by younger apprentices who later may have become the vase masters. There is so much more space on a vase to be creative, its beads that can be so remarkable when their artist taken the liberties to do extra special motiffs, these beads really are extra-special, the matching beads even appear to have subtle differences, so glad to have gotten to see the big picture posted.

Please, can you post more pics...close-up pics, of all the different beads, I want...need to see more details! All those wonderful & now old details!

Maybe I do have pics of some Japanese cloisonne beads among all these Chinese, will enjoy looking through them all to find any.

In any 101 type learning, to learn the very basics we'll need more, like pics of modern Japanese copies if there are any. Maybe I'll look for some modern stuff, only maybe the new stuff looks nothing like the old and not worth the time and effort since the new may be very easy to spot/identify just as how the traditional Chinese motiffs appear to have slowly been abandoned/retired from the art.