Plastic Prayer Beads (Please be Faturin!)

Now that I've got the previous thread on my mind, I've become fixated on finding faturin for myself. I bought these two prayer beads today. Unfortunately, they look a lot lighter/less vivid on screen than in real life. They're both a chocolate-brown color in person, with the orange one being a deeper yolk-orange color, like the yolk of a salted duck egg. No seams.4

 

No, sorry. Nowhere near faturan.
Plain plastic, seams and all, 1960s maybe. Did the seller say they were faturan?

Faturan resembles amber. It has no seams, but really looks like natural amber beads. Old faturan turns a dark cherry colour.
It is said the secret Faturan mixture even contains amber, but I don't know.

 

Thought this was interesting...for us uninformed...
https://abfabtreasures.wordpress.com/2011/01/10/what-is-faturan/
Patd

 

Deferring to AJ, as I know zip about this, and thanks for posting the article, Pat.

One small observation, I'm not seeing seams in the beads. That main piece or top piece almost looks like it has a seam, but in the close up it seems like it is a line of darker color possibly.

If the color isn't showing well (maybe try outdoor light or photographing on white/tan?) Better photos showing the color might be a hint of just what type of material these are.

Looking at "Faturan, Sold" on Ebay, there is really a spread of colors from yoke amber to a mottled brown/cherry. The high priced ones do seems to have a richness about them. Also I see some sellers showing their pieces with a light directly behind, touching the bead (in some cases just the flashlight from their cell phone.) There must be some info gained from that. Anyone know what that light test shows? Might be something to use when out "in the field" looking at pieces.

Learning here, too.

 

Let me know if I should not be piggybacking on this post, but I've been curious about some prayer beads I've acquired over the past few years (thrift stores and estate sales in Minneapolis/St.Paul). I thought maybe they were amber, but they seem heavier than amber. None of them tested as bakelite, so now I'm wondering if any of them are Faturan (I hadn't heard of Faturan until I read this post). The cord for the darker red beads was broken and it only has 19 beads. The other two have 33 large beads. Some of the yellow/orangey beads have semi-translucent areas.

 

Never heard of this, thanks.

 

Fascinating! Here's someone else's contribution on Flickr - although it looks like they probably just threw faturan in there

Golden Lava Flow Faturan Bakelite Dice 10

Huge dice/paperweight, made from phenolic resin (Golden Lava Flow Faturan, bakelite etc), with golden inclusions . Weighs 485 grams .

 

Sounds like they could be, but I don't know anymore about faturan than what is posted here. They are beautiful, whatever they are.
I know that Barn's beads are definitely not faturan simply because they bear no resemblance to amber and have seams, that is all.

This is a useful article on identifying amber copies, but it doesn't mention faturan. Still, it could help:
http://ethnicjewelsmagazine.com/the-identification-of-amber-and-its-copies/

 

Thank you for the link...interesting and informative.

 

Sorry for the late reply.

On a closer look, it appears that the marbled orange-brown ones do have seams of color, but they're inlaid seams, indistinguishable by touch. The dark brown ones don't have visible seams.

No, I didn't ask, since they were only 2 euros each. I figured that, even if they were plain plastic, that's less than what I'd pay for them new.

The search continues!

 

That's fine. You could still make a tiny profit. I was starting to get worried that you squandered your savings on them.

Best not to search for faturan until you are absolutely sure what faturan is. I wouldn't hazard a chance, I am only just starting to keep some of the other amber lookalikes apart.
But if you really want to give it a go, look for something that looks like amber, not just any old plastic beads.

 

I try to be at least somewhat picky about what I spend my money on, heh. The most I ever spent on a piece of jewelry was $52 for a Russian niello belt buckle. I don't mind risking a couple euros though.

I plan to do a bit more research before I lay down anything more than 3-4 euros on a piece.