Help me ID these beads (I know, I know)

[pokerface]

Seller says they are moonstone. To me, they look more like angel skin coral with some kind of coating. Can anyone help me out? Thank you!

 

[chrono]

Like you, I think they are coated something. Not sure what that something is but I am doubtful that it is moonstone.

 

[minousbijoux]

I can't remember what its called, but if its what I think it is, its a fairly prevalent synthetic material.

 

[minousbijoux]

Silly me - I just trotted over to Fire Mountain thinking I would look through their bead selection and find an example of the synthetic bead I think your strand is, but they have tens of thousands of beads and I am not that patient!

 

[arkieb1]

Fake bead of some sort, plastic or resin? It is the colour of dyed Agate but the sheen is too plastic looking unless its your pics.... Doesn't look like any type of moonstone, if it was expensive and the beads are soft some weird type of coated cheap opal?

 

[minousbijoux]

I think they are a fiber optic bead.

 

[arkieb1]

I think they are a fiber optic bead.

Me too or the camera is playing weird tricks and its actually some sort of dyed Agate that is smoother in real life than the pics seem to be...

 

[MJ_Mac]

They look very similar to some mother of pearl (shell) beads that I have (I make fashion jewellery as a hobby and have a wide selection of various beads). There is camera glare which might be distorting the look a bit, although they do look coated in the picture. I'm going by the strand at the bottom of the picture which might be more accurate.

http://www.firemountaingems.com/itemdetails/h203927gs

 

[pokerface]

Some moonstone does seem to have the banded effect, but I can't immediately find anything that has both the banding and the pink. Seller insists that it is moonstone (verified by her jeweler). I am unconvinced.

 

[partgypsy]

To me it looks like dyed mother of peal (shell). But I don't know. Does it feel heavy or light when you pick it up? Moonstone is relatively heavy feeling (compared to plastic, shell) but similar to agate, other mineral stones it may also be.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/225312495/50-natural-mother-of-pearl-round-beads?utm_medium=product_listing_promoted&utm_source=bing&utm_campaign=shopping_us_all-products&utm_medium=cpc&utm_custom1=71981a2e-a640-fb69-52cd-0000618a70bb

oh here are some pink moonstones, so I guess it is possible. Don't know if I know a non-destructive way to test, but it doesn't look like this type of moonstone is that expensive, so it's really a matter of "piece of mind" knowing what you have.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/194832175/sri-lanka-natural-pink-moonstone-round?ref=sc_2&plkey=906574eb180ba998f883785ab5655bc48286a5d0%3A194832175&ga_search_query=moonstone+round+beads&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery

 

[LD]

Although they look like pearls in your photo, I suspect they are peach moonstone. Peach moonstone can vary in colour from cream to a dark peach and all shades in between. They are sold mainly to jewellery makers who make semi costume jewellery.

 

[pokerface]

Thanks for the hints! I'm befuddled because apparently the clasp is 14k, which doesn't make sense for costume jewelry. I might have to buy it to figure it out

 

[LD]

Thanks for the hints! I'm befuddled because apparently the clasp is 14k, which doesn't make sense for costume jewelry. I might have to buy it to figure it out

Having a precious metal clasp doesn't make something a high quality piece of jewellery. I consider them costume jewellery because the stones are not great quality and are sold in bulk in China and you can see the price of a strand - under $10. What jewellers do is add on a precious metal clasp, market them as moonstone (which they are) and add on a zero and they suddenly appear to be an expensive piece of jewellery when in actual fact they're not.

 

[Circe]

They could be orange moonstone, though I'd need more pics to say. Otherwise, there's a kind of synthetic that was popular during the 50s and 60s called "moonglow." I'd say there's a safe chance that may be the substance if it is man made, though looking at the pic, if I had to guess, I would lean towards dyed mother-of-pearl as my second guess. It's a look we don't see too much these days, but it can be very striking.