Hello Everyone,
I am trying to ID the different stones in this vintage necklace from an estate sale and could use your help. Google image tells me 10+different answers as in -Agate,Jasper,Quartz Jade and more… and I noticed in my research that the stones are named with the the locations where they are from. How can I tell where they are from once I identify them ? One jewelry group on Fb told me they are called Beggar Beads and from the 80’s…any info that you might have on any of these stones/beads would be really helpful to me. Thanks ahead of time
Hi there,
My first IGS post so hello! These beads all look like varieties of microcrystalline Quartz and even a couple of rock crystal (monocrystalline clear Quartz) to me. It’s a real showcase of this beautiful gem material. I see: banded agates, bloodstone (green with red spots), dendritic agate (grey with tree like inclusions), various hues of blue, grey and honey coloured chalcedony, carnelian round beads (orange), possibly the darker green ones are another variety called adventurine which has minute green speckles inside of you look closely.
Theee stones are very familiar to me as I love in a rich granitic area and sometimes we even find some of these as pebbles on the beach.
An experienced eye might be able to identify something that denotes geographic origin but as Quartz is so widespread in the world that could be very difficult unless you have more info on the necklace’s provenance.
Beautiful item, hope this is helpful.
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Hello
I think these beads may all come from Scotland as they all identify as stones common in their jewellery, agates, bloodstones, carnelian, onyx etc. Scottish hard stone jewellery goes back hundreds of years and mixing the stones in this way is very common. So I think a more modern take on an old tradition, very lovely.
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Wow thank you so much for the information and ID of the stones.This is very helpful to me. 
Thanks
Lori
Hello,
Thank You so much for the info. That would be cool if they were from Scotland because I’m partly Scottish on my fathers side of the family.I really appreciate the info it was helpful
Thanks,
Lori
These look like Agate to me. Agate generally is more translucent and banded, whereas Jasper is more opaque with various types of patterns. Both are subspecies of Quartz. It would be difficult to say where they are from because Agate and other types of Quartz are found all over the world.
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I agree with all the previous responses. There’s one, possibly two, stones in there that look like Unakite to me. It’s hard to tell clearly from the photos, but it would be opaque green mottled with lovely peachy colors. All in all, you have a very beautiful necklace!
I have 2 similar necklaces. I believe they are chalcedony in various forms: banded agate, carnelian , onyx and bloodstone with the more opaque ones being jaspers. Bought mine for 5 dollars each at an estate sale. They are very fun. While I think the knotting is very nicely done, I have considered cutting one to use some beads in jewelry. I think the green is aventurine rather than jade.
Laura Warren