Old Baltic Amber & Old Tribal Silver, in a one-off necklace created in Sydney.
The Old Baltic Amber in above strand was purchased in south England, from a dealer in Antiques, and was 37cms in length, too short for a necklace; it is what is left of what would have been a quite long strand of these same multi-facetted transparent “honey” Amber beads, one of many such strands created for the growing English middle-class market of the 1880s, at a time when the industrial workings of the Amber deposits of the Baltic Sea region was at its peak.
The strand would have been fine for breaking up for use in eardrops or as components in necklaces various, but there was an argument for keeping it as a strand in itself, if a couple of large compatible beads could be found to give it just that extra length. And nearby at hand was a small bowl of old Silver tribal beads, including the old Turkmeni double bead, seen above, cut into two fine matching old Silver beads.
A very interesting mix, the much-worn English Antique Baltic Amber, its once high polish a touch dulled but still suffused with a warm honey glow; and the old Tribal Silver from Turkmenistan.