another strand
Any thoughts appreceated.
A friend is looking to sell the two pieces.
I shall put them onto the trades pages later.
S x

Since the 15th and perhaps the 16th Cs., black glass seedbeads have been made to simulate jet. Except possibly for royalty, I don't know of anyone making beadwork beads from actual jet in modern times.

Most of these faceted seedbeads are Czech, though frequently used by French beadworkers.

Jamey

These are definately not glass, and have been seen by a antique jewellery dealer who qualified them as jet.
I am aware of French ( Glass ) Jet. This is I believe jet from Whitby in the Uk.

Hello Red,
(Rud your material across the rough bottom of a piece of china)

There is a material called Vulcanite, it was used to imitate Jet, it was cheeper in Victorian days, so the poorer people could afford to wear mourning jewelry. Now days it is as collectable as Jet. There is also pressed horn, bogoak and Guttaperche, that can some times be confused for Jet. Jet is always black, Vulcanite can be brown or black. Also, if any of the fittings are screwed into the pieces of the necklace it will not be jet. Jet would break if a screw was put in. Jet is always glued to. If the links (if they are made of same material) in a chain are split on every link it will be Vulcanite, if every other link has a cut to both ends that do not open it will be jet. Jet link chains were put together by cutting one in half, fitting the two ajoining links and then sticking the cut in half one together. Vulanite link chains, because they are flexable, are cut at one end on each link and then joined together.

Info from an old friend,a long time ago...

Patrick

Thanks for the info !

Hi Sara,

Antique dealers frequently call black glass "jet" - I have met some who don't even know the difference...

The small beads appear to be glass. I have never seen or heard of seed-bead sized beads made of jet. Of course, I encounter something new to me every day though!

I'd tap the beads, both the small as well as the faceted dangles, to my teeth. This should tell you whether they are glass or another material.

Another way to tell for sure, and this has been helpful to me when trying to determine whether old faceted beads are vulcanite or jet: Get an unglazed terra cotta pot, or a shard of one. Draw the bead in question across it. Jet will make a mark on the pot like a pencil would. Vulcanite will leave no mark. Often vulcanite looks pretty similar to jet, as Victorian-style vulcanite beads were made during the same era to replicate jet. But from what I have seen, jet retains more shine over time. So is my understanding.

Carole Morris has been very helpful with jet questions in the past, perhaps she is reading.

take a sample bead and rub or scrape it across paper...Jet has a hardness of between 2-4 and if it is real JET it will leave a mark on the paper, glass, of course won't....good luck

Jet makes a dull redish brown streak on both paper and ceramic tile, we did it this evening at the Glendale Bead Museum....

Taking a piece of jet (or pseudo-jet, or whatever the suspected material may be) and lightly scraping it across a rough surface (such as unglazed porcelain) is called a "streak test."

It is true that jet will present a brown streak; while glass makes no streak. However, black casein—a rather convincing jet imitation—ALSO makes a brown streak. So, the streak test doesn't prove a material is jet. NOT MAKING a streak indicates a jet-like material is most likely glass—because black (actually typically dark violet) glass is the most common jet imitation.

Jamey

Jamey,

Jet makes a black streak.

Patrick

Hi Patrick,

Well over twenty years ago, I read, in a mineralogical book, I believe, about the jet streak being brown. However, I am not just repeating something I read a long time ago. I have some practical experience with jet—as it is one of the materials (like amber) that interests me, and that I have studied fairly carefully. In the '70s I actually bought some jet, carved it, and set it in an Afghan or Pakistani metal necklace I had bought (from Cost Plus, in the days when they had good stuff). And I have streaked it on porcelain—it making a dark BROWN streak, as I expected.

So, you see, I HAVE tried it.

Jamey

Hi Joyce

Yes I'm here! And I totally agree with you and the others who have identified these as glass - I too have never seen or heard of seed-bead sized beads made of jet, whether rounded or crude cut cylindrical as these are. However, I have seen many, many, many pieces like this made from glass beads strung on thread and attached to a fabric strip. They are VERY VERY common in the UK and NW Europe and are often described as passementerie (although passementerie decorative pieces don't necessarily have to include beads).

If anyone has ever worked a piece of raw jet as a material they would more readily understand why it wouldn't be used to make such small beads as it is a fossilised wood which, even when it's been made into larger beads up to 1" diameter, can still crack and split along fissures. What chance a bead the size of a seed bead to be cut, polished, drilled and then survive, let alone 1000's of them!

Besides practicality, the most compelling and sensible reason why no-one would bother to cut this size beads out of jet is economical - imagine the cost! And why bother when the glass versions were available in quantity.

Some of the machinery and workbenches used to work jet into beads and other objects still survives in Whitby today, and the museum there has a fantastic collection. I've attached an image of a commonly found carved jet bead pattern (from the Museum in Whitby) - the plain round beads are jet too. The larger ones are about 1" (25mm) diameter, and the round ones about 1/3" (8mm) diameter. These are the more usual sizes of beads made from jet.

I thoroughly recommend anyone wanting to know more about jet investing a small amount in the Shire album JET JEWELLERY & ORNAMENTS by Helen Muller. I still have some copies left although the last reprint was in 1998 (see link below). her more academic book (now sadly out of print) JET published in 1987 is well worth searching for secondhand (ISBN 0408 03110 7).

Hope this helps!
Carole

Carole

Hi all

Thought you might like to see some pics of Whitby and things related to jet working (including bead-making). Whitby is in North Yorkshire - the county where I grew up.

It is in two halves separated by the River Esk over which there is a bridge which raises like Tower Bridge in London. When a large boat comes up or downstream the traffic has to stop while the bridge lifts. This is a view looking from the south side of the river up by the Abbey across to the north side.

Carole

Hi all

This is a Victorian-period working model in Whitby Museum. It shows all the different cutting, grinding and polishing wheels used at the same bench by jet workers in the town in the 19th century. The processes are in a line and pieces were passed down the line from worker to worker. The model still works, and visitors to the Museum can use an old english penny to make the wheels move and the men appear to work.

Carole

This is part of an original jetworking bench with wheels now preserved in a private museum but which can still be visited next to the owner's shop.

Carole

Hi Carole,
Thank you for the info and images. Your area looks appears to be a very romantic place! And the Whitby Museum must indeed be a treasure. They also have an informative faq page on the jet area of their site.

The Spanish northern province of Asturias, and a village there called Oles, are famous for their centuries old jet manufactures, see a Googled example.

Jet is far too brittle to cut and drill into such tiny sizes, and the spherical ones you show are all moulded. Another difference between real jet and these embroidery beads is the weight.
Jet is so much lighter than glass, that it was sometimes copied by blowing glass into moulds so being hollow would keep the weight down. I'm sure your spherical ones are solid.

The late victorian/edwardian pieces you show are valuable more because of their attractive threading patterns.

I do suggest that you get another gemmologist to test them if you still arent convinced!
Stefany

Hi, Thank you all ofr this great info, I have passed it on to my friend, who will try the suggestions and get back to me.
Warm wishes
to you all
S x

Thanks to this discussion, I just tested the "jet" beads I obtained a while ago and discovered that they are likely vulcanite. They do not give any type of streak in the rub test, but are so soft that rubbing the edge with moderate pressure left an indent. I also got suspicious when I tried to enlarge a hole in one bead. My diamond grit reamer won't cut into this stuff. Yup, it's some sort of hard rubber! It's been a while since I bought them but if I can find the vendor I think I'll let them know they were not selling "fossilized coal" or whatever they were calling it.

My other strand of jet looks like the real thing. The rub test leaves a faint but distinctly brown line on paper. Reaming the hole produces some dark brown dust. The beads are much harder than the vulcanite beads. After trying the hole reamer on these beads I'm wondering if reaming an existing hole may help identify other materials. Certainly I think this would help identify glass from jet.

Thanks once again to the bead experts who posted on this one!

You can also hot-needle jet or "jet," to see what happens. I'm assuming you have already determined the stuff is not glass (which is harder and colder than jet--and will usually show violet if a strong light is passed through it). If you hot-needle jet, it will produce the smell of burning coal (because jet IS a form of coal). Gutta percha and vulcanite, being rubbers, will make the nasty smell of burning rubber. Black casein smells like burning hair—as does horn (that can also be black and jet-like).

Once you have seen actual old jet, you can learn to recognize the look of the material, as it tends to decay and even fall apart—which it does characteristically. The structure of horn is distinctive and different. Vulcanite and casein are evenly homogenous, though casein tends to develop a network of supreficial cracks, and Vulcanite can begin to split.

Jamey

Hi Jamey

Have you had a chance yet to test any of the stuff coming out of China sometimes referred to here in the UK as "Oriental Jet'? I have seen it here in round plain beads up to about 10+mm diameter and down to about 4mm diameter.

Carole

I see they are available on the net from 4mm - 14mm round, a rice shape, small hieshi, and carved. They claim the material comes from Mongolia and Russia. The particular site I saw doesn't state where the labor is done but China would head the list...

We've had jet beads cut in China for several years. We carry basic rounds, some heishi style and flat beads in oval and rectangular shapes. In the southwest dealers carry graduated and small heishi. I must admit I never asked where the raw material comes from.I buy most of it from a cutter who specializes in jet. The beads are light weight and are not super shiny.

Also in the southwest material dealers carry chunks of Asian jet and jet from the Acoma pueblo for carving. The Acoma jet polishes to a much higher shine than most other jet.

I'll have to run some of the suggested tests on my beads but they seem to be the same material as the jet sold in the southwest for carving.

Hi Carole,

I am not familiar with this product, at least by that name.

I have seen various jet or "jet" beads from China—these including carved beads made similarly to cinnabar beads (being template-carved, I assume). These are a bit larger than 10 mm. Perhaps 15+ mm.

Mineralogical books (in my library) tend to suggest that jet is rare, and that only Whitby is the best..., but then they go one to name a variety of sources. Bauer even says there's a LOT of jet in the American SW, but that it's not exploited. But, he doesn't say anything about a Middle Eastern source (that would account for the copious number of beads from Iran and Afghanistan—that I have wondered about for a long time). However, Bauer is an old source, and cannot be expected to be up to date.

Anyway, in our present global economy, minerals are taken wherever there are industries to fashion them into ornaments, I have not considered the source of jet for China as much of an issue (though a curiosity, of course). And I haven't thought much about reconstructing or imitating jet by China—though this would be as likely to be pursued as anything.

In any event, the answer to your question is that I don't believe I have tested any Asian "jet"—apart from the general warmth and softness tests, to distinguish them from harder materials like "black onyx" and the like. I know there are LOTS of "stones" that are colored black and sold as "black jade" from China—thus intruding back into the "what is jade?" issue. But since I don't think of any truly black material as being "black jade," I haven't given it exhaustive consideration. Occasionally, I have seen some soft dyed-black stones being passed-off as "black jade," that I can tell are not even agate. But they also don't seem jet-like either.

Jamey

I took a closer look at the jet beads we stock at Rings & Things. Some are much shinier than others, some as shiny as the material they call "Acoma jet" in the southwest. I'll post some close up pictures including some broken beads.

The beads we carry barely mark paper but do leave a dark gray streak on unglazed pottery.

I asked Karin, the buyer who works closely with several cutters, if she knew where the raw material came from. She said "China" and reminded me that the cutter who specializes in jet had no rough when many Chinese coal mines were shut down after a series of fatal mine accidents a year or 2 ago.

Because of he popularity of jet in Southwest jewelry, Indian Jeweler's Supply, Thunderbird Supply, Pueblo Trading, Anderson trading and Thomason Stone and Supply all carry jet beads. 4mm rounds are about the smallest most of carry although 2 to 3mm heishi is available from some suppliers. "Block" or man made imitation jet is available in heishi, along with all the other "block" turquoise type stones.

I decided to stick one of the "vulcanite" beads over a candle flame, and got no reaction at all. I let the bead get really hot. No smoke or odor. The beads are heishi with the largest over 1/2 " diameter and 1/4" thick, and the holes show some drill punch-out on one side. So they appear to be a mineral of some sort, worked and drilled. They are cool to the touch. Under a microscope the drill damage surfaces show a slight glassiness. Otherwise the surfaces are smooth with a slight sheen. The surface texture of these and the beads that left a dark brown rub streak look similar under magnification.
I must have been badly mistaken about the edge of the first bead I rubbed being indented - these are really hard. Would we expect various sources of fossilized coal to have different hardnesses? Maybe the original deposits from England were softer than the new Chinese deposits.

Hi Rosanna

The deposits in England were (and still are) considered the best quality jet in the world, when the material can still be found, but the deposits are worked out and jewellery shops in Whitby (especially craftsman jewellers who make their own pieces, who I have talked to) pay top prices for pieces brought in by runners from the shore after storms (a bit like amber in Denmark). They admit (reluctantly, however) that mostly their raw material is imported from other sources abroad and is nowhere near as good. Even recycling old broken Victorian pieces is better than anything else available (so the jewellers say).

Muller (in her book "Jet" published in 1987) says that two varieties of true jet are recognised and are given the rather misleading names of hard jet and soft jet, but in fact both have the same hardness on the Mohs' scale. I think she is implying at this point in her book that both are found at Whitby and the surrounding area. If anything is real jet (wherever it comes from - Whitby or China) it would have the same hardness.

The 'hard' jet is apparently tough and durable and when worked and polished retains its shape and lustre for centuries - this is very clear in Bronze Age, Roman and Viking period excavated artefacts which (like gold) tend to come out of the ground exactly as they went in!

The 'soft' jet is more brittle and won't stand rapid changes of temperature, so has a tendency to crack and split a short time after it is worked. However, they are at first indistinguishable by sight, so you do find some Victorian jet beads which have subsequently split along the fissures.

What is relevant here is that true jet has a lot of "near relatives" (Muller's terminology) which have been found in various locations in the world. In 1987 she reported that the occurrence of jet had been reported from China, but that at that time there was no information about its detailed locality there.

I bought my first piece of "jet" from China at Leekans in New York in 1990. It was a large carved cylindrical bead with distinct Chinese motifs so I know that this "Oriental jet" was coming out of China at least as early as 19 years ago, and probably earlier. Hence my original question to Jamey of whether or not he had tested any of this, as I know he knows Leekans very well, and I'm sure he will know the sort of pieces I mean. My overall impression of the material was that it just didn't have the same intense black glossy lustre that Whitby jet has, but I have no reason to believe it isn't a true jet (unless tests prove otherwise).

I would be interested to know how long ago Russ had any of it in from China, and whether the dates coincide with the later 1980's/c.1990 date or was it earlier?

Carole

Carole

Hi Carole,

I was composing my reply below as you posted yours. I largely agree with you, of course.

As I wrote to Rosanna, unless I come to understand that the Chinese are exploiting a (let's say) "local" source, it seems as parsimonious as anything to assume the material is imported into China. So, in referring to beads as "Chinese jet beads," I would take that to mean, or I would mean: "jet cut in China." NOT 'jet from China.'

The Chinese jet beads I have handled appear to be a material that's comparable to Whitby jet. I don't think of it as inferior in any way. However, this is not to say it has the best polish that many Whitby pieces can be given. But my reasoning was that they had not been well-polished, because that was not the effect that was desired.

Jet is a soft material. Its polished surface is easily attacked by any common abrasives—including common dust (hardness averaging to about 5.5, I think). Over time, any jet is going to lose its luster (or lustre). However, fortuitously, there are many examples of jet (and amber, etc.) that have been protected from attack, and retain their luster. But there is nothing special about Whitby jet that makes this so. It is circumstances.

Jamey

Hi Jamey

I agree - jet cut in China could have come from anywhere like all the other minerals they import and process. 'Oriental jet' is a trade name I've seen in sales documentation here in the UK, and I'm sure the product they are selling is 'jet cut in China', just like that which Russ has in stock.

What really interests me is where the Chinese today are getting their raw material from. I have a vague recollection (but I can't remember exactly) that one of the modern craftsman jewellers in Whitby let slip that their own source (i.e. the UK jewellers') could be Poland/Russia.

What Muller was referring to in 1987 though was purely about sources rather than processing, so her comment "the occurrence of jet has also been reported from China" could be relevant to an actual source. She also mentions that in 1939 the 'Minerals Yearbook' had stated there were considerable amounts of jet produced in the province of Kompong-Thom in Cambodia.

Just for reference, some other main world sources used at various times in the past she lists are:

(i) South Germany in the Swabian and Frankish Alps, particularly around Balingen, Reutlingen and Göppingen
(ii) France in the Aude department in Bains, Peyrax and Ste Colombe
(iii) Spain in Asturias and Aragon
(iv) USA in Colorado and Utah
(v) Russia
(vi) Turkey
(vii) Scotland
(viii) Wales

and some of these are relevant to posts we've already had in this thread.

Carole

Hi Carole,

Thanks for your reply. I guess in many respects, a wide variety of origin places shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. After all, we were once told that Afghanistan was the only place in the world where lapis lazuli was mined..., but now we know it can be recovered in Pakistan, Chile, Russia, and even the US.

I know about all the sources you list; and have wondered if/assumed that Turkey is the source for the Persian/Afghan beads. However, if someone said to me, "all these beads are made from Whitby jet," I wouldn't know how to disagree with that.

I wish I had as much faith in Muller as you do (or seem to). I think her amber book has some critical errors. I probably have her jet book (I am pretty sure), but it has been a long time since I gave it much attention.

That jet comes from several different sources does not surprise me. What I am wrapping my brain around is the idea that there is "Chinese jet," and what beads represent it. "Oriental" and "Orient" are words that have fallen into disfavor here in the US (and are considered sort of pejorative, or at least Amero/Euro-centric). But doesn't "the Orient" essentially cover all of Asia? That would include Turkey, Russia, Cambodia, and perhaps China.

Jamey

Hi Jamey
Helen Muller's reputation as a scholar here is fine. (The Butterworth amber book was written by a different 'Helen' - Helen Fraquet).

One of the things Muller is noted for is a small study of the constituent elements of various sources of jet using X-ray emission spectroscopy she published in the Journal of Gemmology in 1980, although she only had a limited number of foreign samples to work with at the time. Apart from their common components of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen, she found that Spanish and Whitby jet have very different levels of other elements - Whitby has a very high proportion of aluminium, and very low amounts of anything else whereas Spanish jet has fairly high quantities of aluminium, silicon and sulphur, as well as significant amounts of chlorine, potassium and calcium. I'm sure the other different sources would have their own 'signatures' and I wonder if any researcher has taken it any further? I shall cast around the British archaeological literature and see what I can find.

The Persian/Afghan beads may well have come from the Turkish source - who knows. As you know it was exploited very early by the Greeks/Romans, probably from the Gages area in that part of Turkey which was referred to as Lycia by the Romans. But I know the Romans (who were extremely fond of jet as a raw material) also exploited the Whitby, German and Spanish sources. What period are the Persian/Afghan beads, or is it one of the great unknowns?

I'm fairly certain that the jet beads being marketed here as 'Oriental Jet' are being described as such to make sure buyers don't think they are Whitby jet. But I agree, the name essentially covers all of Asia.

Carole

Couldn't resist this one. My much-loved and missed cat 'Jet' who died last year at the age of 15.
Carole

Thanks for the name correction. My mistake, for sure.

I would hope that, given the origin of jet—from wood—that analyses would reveal very different and specific constituents from jet of different locales. But I don't know anything about the work pursued in this area, so far. Thanks.

Jamey

Carole,

Thanks so much for all the information you provide here in this thread. Your posts are much appreciated! As are everyone's of course, but I have missed Carole Morris.

We have a nice chunk of jet from a gem show said to have come from Russia.

Hi Rosanna,

Let's begin with hardness. Jet is a very soft material. A steel knife can be used to cut it. (I used a common jewelry saw and an an X-acto knife when I cut and carved the pieces I made over twenty years ago.)

Take any steel knife or needle, that has a point, and see if you can scratch the surface.

If the material is too hard to be scratched by steel, it is about as hard as quartz (+ or -). There are MANY quartz-family beads that are black or made black that could be mistaken for "jet," or misrepresented as "jet." (Ditto for "black jade.")

Don't forget, black glass (that is actually usually dark translucent violet—but also can be deep red or green) is the most common imitation of jet. It 's harder than jet, but not as hard as quartz. If you can get some light through an edge, or through a piece of the material, and it is a translucent color, it cannot be jet. (See past messages here on this topic of discussion—though I expect this will be confusing, because certain people don't get the importance of practical advice about glass colorants in the context of "jet.")

Jet is a kind of coal. Coal is a fossil. To say "fossilized coal" is a redundancy.

What "new Chinese deposits" are you referring to? In all likelihood (unless better information is presented), the Chinese probably get their rough jet from any of the conventional sources that operate in the world, and sell to factory businesses. Let's not forget, presently, Chinese factories produce quite a few treated, altered, reconstructed, and hardened materials for beadmaking. Two years ago, when the issue of turquoise was a topic of concern, and I came to understand that a LOT of "Chinese turquoise" was actually dyed magnesite, I also came to understand that new techniques have been developed to harden soft materials. I have even acquired a dyed-blue coral bead that is as hard as a crystalline mineral now, and as hard as the new fake turquoise. The possibility that fake jet or reconstructed and hardened jet is being manufactured is a real possibility (as I remarked earlier). But what would be the point of bothering to do any of this when "black onyx" (passed off as "black jade"—made from Brazilian agate) is a mainstay of European and now Asian beadmaking (for well over 100 years), and visually substitutes for jet easily?

The differences in various jets by source, and quality within a source, are easily understood. Whitby jet is "the best" and is used as a standard for comparison to any other kind or source. Less-good jets are brown (or more-brown) rather than black, friable rather than compact, softer, become easier to break or biodegrade, are woody, are splotchy, and the like. A jet that would be harder than Whitby (though I don't know of such a thing) would most likely NOT be much harder, nor so hard that it becomes easier to mistake it for another material (or vice versa).

What were you told about the beads you bought, and from whom did you buy them (if there's any chance this is relevant)?

Jamey

Hi Jamey,

I bought the "Natural Jet (jet is fossilized coal)" beads on ebay from mugzz1. The vendor is selling an identical strand currently as item 110336067107. I emailed him just a few days ago to let him know that the strand I bought was not jet. At the time I had the wrong conclusion about Vulcanite, and his reply was simply - "the beads are not Vulcanite". Yup, they are not, and I think these are very likely some pretty hard stone like onyx, as you have conjectured, especially since they are selling for under $20. By any of your tests & descriptions they are not jet.

Thanks for another highly educational ":thread"!