Putmek Round Bead Necklace June's birthstone Hand-formed and etched nickel silver

Hand-formed and etched nickel silver tube beads

While blue is the classic sapphire color

They can internally display virtually any color

Bead size range from 6mm x 8mm to 19mm x 19mm

Hand carved incised cow bone beads mounted on a wooden core made by Turkana people in Kenya

Putmek Round Bead Necklace June's birthstone Hand-formed and etched nickel silverPutmek Round Bead Necklace Pumtek, or "buried thunderbolt", beads have been highly prized trade objects and amulets for thousands of years in Burma, from the ancient Pyu people to Chin tribesmen in contemporary times. The oldest are opalized palmwood, lending a specific sheen and grain; newer ones (post 1930s) may be made of different varieties of petrified wood. The Chin believe that material only occurs when lightning strikes an agatized wood