Black Beads Help

Hi all,
Just wondering what the black beads are on this necklace - I thought glass and put them in a bowl with soap and water to let them sit and soak/loosen off the grunge that was on them. Grunge has slowly come off and looks to have eaten/damaged the bead, once dried you can see some stuff still on them. Some black comes off when I was rubbing them - any ideas?
any information appreciated
thanks for looking

 

Some old jet looking black things are a faceted glass shell "glued/filled" with some kind of shellac on metal sheet.
Mysterious material!

 

thanks kyratango, mysterious material works for me Shame they aren't glass, would have been a pretty necklace

 

Ive got lots of black bead necklaces that I have no idea what they are. Black is just so difficult to assess. Sorry no idea what yours are that could be that delicate you couldn't even go out in the rain!. Agree a lovely style of necklace though.

 

I brightened your pics a bit, it looks like it is some kind of organic material that was still in the process of hardening/fossilization, like bog oak.
I wonder if they are antique beads which have been repurposed. Bog oak was mostly used in the 19th century.

 

thanks AJ yes, could be something organic. The grunge that was on them looked like mold, some still visible in the photos. Not sure if it can be completely removed or if it would be worth it, most of the beads are damaged

 

Yes, it does. I don't think they can be saved. The other beads can still be used though.

 

@cxgirl do you think they could be vulcanite?. They look very similar to these.

 

Good possibility from the pic, but never seen faceted vulcanite
Those black materials can be very tricky to id

 

I don't think vulcanite, which is vulcanized rubber, can develop mould/mold like that.