identifiying ivory ? 1940s necklace

[onekiwi0]

1940s necklace, looks like rose shapes - the lady I bought it off was not sure if it was ivory.  are there ways to tell? it is quite small so for a slim neck or even a child. several beads closer to the clasp as slightly discoloured I guess from perspiration. I'm not willing to put a flame to it or would ruin the necklace.

she also had amber necklace which she wasn't sure if it was amber... again I had no idea how to identify.  any hints on either please? 

I have attached a photo of the possible ivory.  If not ivory I wonder what is made of faux ivory?

thanks

[kopenhagen5]

No photo here.

Select reply and click on the little pic of tree (insert image).

Browse for the pic and select insert image.

[onekiwi0]

[kopenhagen5]

To me it looks too white to be ivory but I may be wrong.

I was thinking maybe it's bone.

The clasp looks aged and it seems strung very well, so would tend to say it's genuine of some sort as opposed to recent and plastic.

I have an experienced friend in beads that I am seeing tonight. I shall ask him on this and the amber.

[siddieswans]

It could be ivory, bone or some sort of synthetic substance like celluloid. If it is older (like 1940's) it is likely to be ivory or bone - better quality (is it knotted? quality of catch?) were often ivory, though it was a relatively cheap material for mass-produced oriental souvenirs. There are ways of telling the difference between ivory and bone, (try Googling) though to be honest I would not think it makes much difference in a necklace like this. Of course you cannot sell ivory on Oz eBay - even if you mention bone, you must say cow bone now it seems; "ox bone" used to be used to get around the ivory listing ban, and using it (or the word "ivory" without "faux" in front of it) will get your listing rejected. (I have had a listing for "blush ivory" Crown Devon ceramics rejected - for some reason Oz eBay seems much stricter with this than other eBay listing sites.)

There are also ways of identifying between amber and vintage look-a-likes like bakelite, lucite or more modern plastics. Today there is so much very cheap Baltic amber on the market, that it is more the quality of the jewellery that determines the value of the piece. Try Googling "tests for amber".  I tend to go the electro-static route - I also have a bakelite testing fluid. If it is simply a bead necklace, unless they are 1920's vintage or earlier, and exceptional quality beads, probably bakelite will attract almost the same interest and price, especially if they are facetted cherry amber beads. Again catches, stringing and knotting will help you with determining the age.

[ambridgebuckskins]

Not sure what it is but l have 3 of those necklaces here. They came in a pile of vintage jewelery from a clearing sale.

Of the three, one is an off white, one is a pale green and the other is yellow.

Same clasp, same beads.

[kopenhagen5 · Accepted solution]

Ok, my friend said the following -

If you feel like it you can heat a sewing needle holding a pair of plyers and prick it on the reverse side someone near the clasp.

If it smokes and melts, it is plastic. If it doesn't penetrate and burn, it could possibly be pigs teeth, ox bone or ivory.

With single beads of amber you put them in salt water and if they float it's probably amber.

If yours are on a necklace you can hold a torch under them and they should have a glow inside to be amber and not just be lit up by the light overall.

Hope it helps.

[onekiwi0]

wow interesting thanks all.  kopenhagen tried the smoking needle test, I held the needle on the gas burner till it went orange and put it on the bead next to the clasp.  aside from 2 little black pin points there was no smoking and melting.  do the tiny black pin pricks mean anything?.  sounds like cow bone then.  so can you say ivory colour in your title after cow bone?!

I will try the amber test wed if she still has them.

[onekiwi0]

yikes just found it on the internet, mine is not quite as white - kopenhagen I should have asked your friend if its easy to whiten!  If the link is removed... check out ivory carved flower necklace on ruby lane!

http://www.rubylane.com/item/628868-inec/Vintage-Pre-Ban-Ivory-Carved

[kopenhagen5]

No the pin pricks are probably soot from the needle.

Sounds like you have something genuine in that case. Possibly even ivory, going by your link.

Are the flowers as detailed as the ones in rubylane? Your clasp is different of course but style looks very similar.