First, a great red-yellow-black Venetian chevron. I believe a Luigi grind from early 20th century cane? The vulcanite discs here look nice and also eliminate that glass-to-glass "grind". The red white hearts are Italian.

Next is a blue-yellow-white Venetian chevron, African trade and rare. Totally inspired by a necklace Jamey made. The yellow white hearts are mid 20th c., French, bought from Pierre Bovis by myself in the 80s when he was selling the stock from the old factory in Lyon. The little "tile" beads....hmm....Bapterosse?

Here, the small vulcanite beads string and fit comfortably inside the teal folded bead as well as the plain greenish beads. They didn't fit inside the little folded beads, though, but it worked nicely. I've no idea about the age of the plain green ones and for all I know they are 20 yrs old from India. They have dark residue inside as from an iron mandrel. The color works.

The blue rosetta cane millefiori are a combo I've always liked. I put them with little Chinese wound beads and two Tut-revival Czech glass Buddhas!

I'm no designer, but I make what I like and I like what I wear.

Please show what you are currently wearing. This is always fun!

Time for a big palaver over "vulcanite". What is it really? Who copyrighted that name?

As usual, I don't recognize "Islamic period" for anything.

Me know nothing because they came from the flea market bin from which I showed a few items on another thread. They don't resemble anything I remember seeing in the past. Black residue inside, and ever so slightly translucent glass make them kind of interesting. Texture and color do indeed resemble Hebron glass. But they are small. Only about 12 - 14mm.

I'm remembering an old thread from 2003 or 4....both you and Jamey were helpful in presenting a voice of reason AGAINST the misguided notion that vulcanite disc beads were made from old LP records. It was concluded that old records were not even made of the same material, that they were made of lac. This thread was printed and presented to a retail bead store owner who embraced the "record" malarky. She really didn't appreciate it. Stupid stories are more fun to scam customers with!

Carole Morris has also provided great info in the past. I have approx. 8mm faceted vulcanite beads that she verified for me. They're nice - the material doesn't hold a shine like genuine jet beads (which they were made to imitate) yet the vulcanite makes sturdy round beads. The discs are sometimes brittle.

Any other colors, like red and yellow, for vulcanite? I thought it was the red, yellow, black ones (the colors of kid records) that gave rise to the folklore. Are those kid records vulcanite?...I doubt it. Another chapter for the the revised and updated Byrd book.

Turns out only the black beads are "Vulcanite" and the other colors....green, blue, pink, yellow, red, pink.....etc are made of some other product if my memory recalls correctly.

Since Vulcanite is hardened rubber, a hot-point test will confirm the material easily—with the smell of burning rubber.

I think many plastic disk beads (whether black or colorful) are other plastics—such as acetate or PVC. These will not smell like burning rubber.

The colorful kids' records were made from PVC. This is what most late records (once lac was discontinued) were made from. These were the "unbreakable" types that were just more flexible (but still breakable), that were considered an improvement over lac.

Jamey

Love the combo with the Buddas.

Striking beads, Joyce! These Venetian fancies come out for weddings!

A few 'older' a speos & some newer, 7-7's and some wound beads....I wear this noisy striped string-o-beads daily but the bracelet only occasionally gets use probably because I don't wear them together, lol...

Hi Joyce - great idea to share necklace designs. I love the black and white one - how can I get my hands on the re-ground chevrons? I especially like the twisty appearance - it looks like a shell.

Here are a couple of mine:
1) Green recycled glass from Ghana and Ashanti lost wax brass, plus aspeo beads (now I know this!) in the four connecting strands.

2) Black cow horn carved and polished in Ghana, sterling silver Rajasthani beads, and 3 really cool chevrons. I was told they were from Luigi Catellan but, having now seen the Lu Beads website, I'm starting to wonder if they're not new Chinese. I bought them knowing I wasn't certain what I was getting, but I really loved their appearance. I've now ordered the Lu Beads to compare. Does anyone know if Luigi Catellan made these kinds of beads?

2 more to follow.

best,
Julianna

Here are a couple of more necklaces. The wedding beads are great fun!

1. Mali wedding beads with Russian blues and a couple of white hearts to add interest.

2. Ashanti lost wax casting brass, recycled glass beads from Ghana, and "Sudanese amber." Any thoughts on the "amber"? I'm pretty sure it's new and am not sure if it's resin or plastic - but my guess is perhaps resin dyed with henna, since when I rub the pieces together they scuff a little. It was a long string (around 36 inches), of which I bought half. All beads were graduated from about 1.5 inches diameter to around 3/4 inches diameter. I know I should look at Jamey's amber group for info, but would be grateful for any insights here.

thanks!
Julianna

You are very talented! Do you sell your creations?

Dear Christine,

yes, indeed, I do sell the necklaces. Part of the proceeds are used to support a junior high school in Ghana, where I live. If you're interested, just email me and I can send you some other photos.

best,
Julianna

Love these little guys!

And Some Chevrons I picked up from Luigi!

Some of mine
Love Chevrons and they are easy to design with!

More of my designs with that are a "A fusion of materials spanning multiple continents, cultures and periods"..

Nice to see all these from all of you!

Dear Carl,

the treasure necklaces are very cool - but how do they fasten and what are they strung on? Neat concept!

thanks,
Julianna

Carl can I ask - what does your second necklace consist of?

Small bags or pouches that I made and strung on brain-tanned buckskin "neck-laces". The pouches are adorned with "trade beads".

The first two are made of black bear hide, with gemstone "buttons", trade beads and related accessories (bear claws & teeth).

The second two are made of albino Alligator hide (not really, just died white), gemstone "buttons", trade beads and related accessories (alligator teeth), the button on the right side is fossilized (no longer fresh), dinosaur bone.

I do not actually wear these particular ones myself, but have worn similar pieces when the mood is right.

I still find it difficult to find good designs for my Venetian beads, so your examples are very inspiring.
I have added two examples of necklaces I made recently. The first is a necklace I made with Czech glass cabuchons made to resemble opal, which I set in polymer clay and combined with Czech black beads. The complete necklace is made with my memory of Victorian mourning jewelry in mind.

The second graduated necklace is made with tiny sea urchins I found on the beach. The biggest one is about 9 mm wide. I am quite pleased with it, but it is very fragile.

After viewing the beads in the Lewis collection this past year, I got interested in using more brass beads, bells, rings, etc. in my necklace designs. Here is a favorite assembly from last year. The clasp is simple hammered brass wire, found in a Lewis lot of metal beads and findings. I don't know if Mr. Lewis made it himself, but it's one of my favorite items from the auctions.

these are characteristic components handmade in Kenya where brass or copper is often used and must be easy to get hold of... around 1960's I'd estimate.

Thanks for the info!

Beautiful necklaces, Joyce and everyone. I recently took a class because I could never figure out how to end necklaces properly so I made a few necklaces after I finally learned. Here are a couple of mine.

THanks, Jamey. It seemed simple after the woman showed me once. ;-)

The first necklace is supposed to be all ancient but not being an expert I am not sure. It's ancient to me. The beads were represented as ancient Roman Mediterranean, early Islamic glass and stone beads, when I bought them. The clasp of course is handcrafted and new from Nepal.

The second necklace is lapis but not ancient lapis and a Tibetan Prayer box pendant. I am curious if anyone knows where the larger silver beads on that necklace come from. I bought several of them at one time but I have no idea where they are from? India? The silver disk beads are old and from Morocco. I bought those from our friend Roger in Spain here on the forum.

And pudgy which necklace tweeners? do you refer to?

I have so few new personal necklaces. I am too busy stringing other people's beads. Here's a nice necklace I made from dark beautifully rubbed rudraksha seeds, with an antique focal bead from the Himalayas, made from chank shell. It appears to have script engraved upon it, and is very handsome.

JDA