Authentic! West African Bauxite necklace

FYI..........Bauxite is an aluminium ore, and the main element for aluminium sheeting. In its natural state, it is usually speckled or mottled in appearance, with orange and gray deposits. Colors can range from rust-brown to beautiful sunset hues, like salmon pink. Of course, being resourceful as they are, the people of Ghana have long known the beautiful properties of bauxite. Being a soft mineral, it’s relatively easy to manipulate into cylindrical shapes and tubes – the most common shapes of Bauxite Beads. This necklace collected around 1970 in West Africa is formed by 32 old cylindrical bauxite beads. A rare and very nice piece of bead jewelry for someone special!! Despite the fact Bauxite Beads are still produced in abundance in Ghana, there are quite a number of ceramic imitations circulating online. So, how do you tell the difference? Simply dampen your beads with a little water and sniff them. Real Bauxite Beads smell like FRESH EARTH!!!