African Collectables & Artefacts

String of 71 faux amber beads, probably from Morocco.

This beautiful string of beads is not true amber, which is an ancient, fossilised tree resin - very rare and very expensive.

These beads are called faux amber, a synthetic imitation of true amber made of bakelite or similar. Invented in 1907, bakelite was the world's first commercial synthetic plastic - technically described as a 'thermosettingphenol formaldehyde resin'.

Bead diameter ranges from 1.5 to 4.5 cm, approximately.

Approximate string length: 130 cm