Lightweight chunky bead necklace

Hi all!

For years I've been tossing mystery jewelry into a couple of boxes with the intention of asking you knowledgeable folks to help solve the mysteries.

Well, I'm now starting to dig into these boxes and realize that it would have been really smart to write the question(s) down and attach them to each piece ... ... Lesson learned there.

This necklace is about 24" (61 - 62 cm) long. The barrel shaped beads are about ¾" by ½" and super lightweight. These beads remind me of old Christmas decorations that were made of some sort of pressed/formed cotton wool like stuff ... but they have a shiny clear lacquer coating on them.

Do they have a name?

Clasp is stamped West Germany, so it narrows the date of manufacture down a bit. My guess was that they weren't from the later part of the existence of West Germany, but would like to hear the opinions of others.

Has anyone seen beads like these before?



pic showing the fuzzy interior of a bead

 

It looks like it could be papier-mâché. This technique was really popular from the Victorian era onwards because
people could make and decorate their own objects.
My mom used to have a really fine laquered tray of the Victorian era but the technique was used to make small objects like beads also.

 

Thank you for looking and suggesting that they may be papier-mâché beads, Dessert. I'll try searching using that term and see what pops up.
Now I'm wondering if these could have been made from a kit (paint at home as you suggested), rather than mass produced by a jewelry manufacturer.