I 100% guarantee this bead to be natural stone and vintage from the late 1970's.
Price is for 1 of these 20mm beads which is superbly cut and polished as per the standards back in the 1970s and 1980s in Asia. In fact, this bead has such a high polish, that it was difficult to photograph where you could see the various sections of this melon shape. You can even see the reflection of the camera in the bead!
Most of the stone beads that are cut these days come out of India where the standards are no where near what they were in Asia so many years ago!
I sold many of these uniquely shaped faceted and carved black onyx beads through the Smithsonian Institution's museum shop and mail order catalog during the 1980s and they were also featured in trunk shows at Bloomingdales and Saks Fifth Avenue during this same time period.
You can read more about my career as a jewelry designer in my profile page!
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