We recently acquired a treasure trove of high-quality Hubei Turquoise beads from the 1980’s with beautiful clear light blue-green to medium blue-green color.  These beads belonged to a retired owner of a now-closed small company that manufactured sterling silver and gold filled jewelry using high quality semi precious gemstones and semi-precious gemstone beads.  These beads have not seen the light of day for around 35 years and  are now available on our website.  

Ancient Jatim were produced in Java in the first milleniium AD. They are large and small polychrome beads named for their close association with east Java, or Jawa Timor. Between 300 and 700CE there was extensive international trade to the east and west, and the Indonesian bead making style was influence the the Roman mosaic and millefiori beads.  More...

I was interested to read that perforated shells used as beads were discovered in an archaeologic site in south-east Spain. Besides being perforated by a tool, some of them were stained with hematite, a red colorant. The shells date from the Middle Paleolithic around 48,500 years ago.  More..