Silver Strand of Beads

Every bead is cut like a tiny gem, and every facet has a stamped border.

This strand of beads is coin silver, 23 inches long. Silver beads have long been strung as portable wealth and ornament in many parts of the world, and stamped dots and lines are a common way to dress a plain surface. These are faceted, close to octahedral in form, each face pressed with rows of fine dots. Some carry a small diamond at the center of a square, while others have angled planes meeting in a ridge. The surface is dark in the recesses and bright on the high points, and the strand is shown doubled.

A necklace that does its arithmetic in dots.