Featured Real Baltic amber ? pendant

Brabant looks nice in pics (tourism bureaus ?). Yep,we stayed in Haarlem. It was King's Day (Orange Day) in Amsterdam and we didn't want the drunks or noise.As it turned out,Haarlem was partying just as hard as Amsterdam-but all the young drunks were extremely polite,and much to my wife's chagrin-kept handing me beers...I couldn't be impolite.

 

It is throughout the country, maybe you would have been safe in a small village. There are a lot of very pretty villages.

 

All the young folks were very gracious and quite friendly (buzzed or sober)-don't know why people think the Dutch are formal or uptight ?
Now a small village may have been quieter,there was a small King's Day Fair/Carnival going on a few blocks away,but it was a national holiday-makes sense.

 

Maybe they met me?
Most Dutch are quite informal, compared to for instance Germans or English. North of the rivers used to be predominantly Calvinist Protestant, they have a reputation of being uptight. But things have changed to a great extent, especially in towns.
There are some parts where you have to be careful of what you say or do, mostly in the Dutch Bible Belt.

I live south of the rivers, which used to be predominantly Roman Catholic. It is like a different country.
Brabanders are called Burgundian, meaning they are gregarious and enjoy life. They are generally very easy to get along with. And fortunately we are pretty egalitarian and don't fuss about social status, contrary to some Calvinist parts.

 

aj, have you ever seen a film called Passport to Pimlico?

 

Yes, I have, it is wonderful. It was also Burgundian, wasn't it?

 

Burgundians!

 

Exactly, it took a few seconds for me to remember that. Relatives!
We used to be the northernmost part of the Burgundian empire.
But then there is Pimlico of course.

 

If I may go back to amber, my today's find - interesting design, combination of two coral beads and two amber beads mounted on a silver tone long chain with large oval links and no clasp. Corals look natural although maybe dyed, amber beads look faux, maybe bakelite (quite heavy). Will be grateful for any idea about date and origin

 

Natural coral imo. Mediterranean coral can have white spots and blotches, other types too. Lovely beads, gorgeous salmony colour.
You can test them by putting some acetone on a q-tip and holding the cotton bud of the q-tip against the coral for ca 30 seconds. If the q-tip turns coral colour, it is dyed. It won't damage the coral.

The amber beads look like they could be genuine amber. Have you bought a UV light yet? There are cheap UV flaslights on ebay and in regular shops as well.
You can also rub them vigorously on your jeans or other clothing for a minute or so, and see if they are static.

 

Thank you, Any Jewelry, much obliged! Your eye is expert's eye.

The coral also looked to me quite genuine but as I have little knowledge, I assume that there is high probability that I am wrong. Tried the acetone test, no color transferred. They are indeed lovely, I snatched it today very quickly, without much looking, and now the more I look, the more I like the necklace. An unusual item anyway.

About the amber beads, imo they are too heavy for the size to be genuine amber but I will test them with UV as soon as I have the flashlight. They are not the same, though, one of them is of lighter color than the other (can't be seen on the photos) May be it is a sign of autheticity. And also the one I photoed has a little dent - it can be seen. No, they are not static, tried.

No flashlight yet, I am trying to find around but if I fail, I will order online. I have a lot of work these days and cannot focus on this. No rush anyway, I just pile the items waiting for UV test and will do them altogether. And will post here the results.

Thank you again!

P.S. the corals are about 2 cm, and the amber beads - about 3 cm

 

Wonderful, I thought as much.

 

Yes, you spotted it right away. No surprise given your profound knowledge and well trained eye. Honestly, I just liked the unusual design and didn't have any expectations when I bought it. Later at home I noticed that it might be coral with amber, and asked here for opinion.

Thanks again for your valuable advice and answers to my... well not so wise questions It is evident that I am an amateur, I started recently being interested in antiques as a hobby, and for me it is an entire new universe. Very interesting and enjoyable to learn though, and here I learn from the best.

 

IvaPan-I know less than nothing compared to our experts abt Jewelry,but-if You want to make money in the Collectibles & Antique biz (and not sell counterfeit handbags)-knowing this field's essential.
These tiny expensive creatures hide much more skillfully than 15 foot high Rodins or room-sized Pollocks. The amount of original Monet's hanging in people's garages is zero compared to how many Georgian Broaches people have stuffed in their drawers.
Our pickers (esp UK & Europe) routinely find this stuff compared to how many 1K-10K paintings show-up here.
***A real Empire ring will always be worth more than an imaginary Vermeer.

 

Nothing wrong with your questions, Iva, and you're welcome.

 

Thanks, Any

bosko, you are absolutely right, this is responsibility towards clients, I am aware of it. The thing is that I don't sell (at least for now) I am more of a hobbyist. It started by chance but now I feel more and more obsessed as it is so interesting to investigate and learn about antiques - styles, features, stories behind, historical facts, everything.
Maybe someday when I go on pension (if I live long enough ) I will be tempted to sell some of my stuff but for now I am only buying. And learning.

 

I vote for the AAA All About Amber info page. I have a very soft spot for Amber. Before my mother went into the nursing home , she gave me one of her pieces of jewelry that I always coveted, an amber bear fetish. I had to run up and look at my other pieces after reading this thread. When you have a geologist father, most of your Birthday and Christmas presents were rocks and minerals with a fair number of gems!

 

Lark, beautiful things! The drop-shaped pendant looks similar to mine (at least on the photo)

 

That is why i ran up to get it! I wanted to check mine out with the information they gave you.

 

The amber bear fetish is beautiful.