All I know is that kingfisher feather hasn't been used in jewelry in quite a while. I'm sure others know much more!
Thank you both for your input. I too was thinking the beads minus the findings may have begun their lives as hat buttons, similar to the attached.
Guessing they're on their way back to China.
I gifted a bead like one of these to Valerie H. -a well known seed bead artist from Chicago. She carried it to Beijing to show to the dealers so that they would have an example of what she was looking for.
On her first night, just after unpacking, she went for a walk and returned to her hotel room. A number of pieces, including my gift, were pilfered from her luggage. Hotel room theft has happened in Beijing to me and to Joe L. -of Santa Fe and San Francisco. I question whether there may be increasing endangerment of international travelers to China today.
International businesses are getting rich from the slave labor of countless numbers of poor Chinese who illegally immigrate into the big cities for work….The food chain is the story of life. The poorest of the workers are desperate to survive in Beijing, which is becoming increasingly expensive. And, unfortunately, sometimes hotel workers feel forced to steal from hotel guests.
Just Fred
Most of the thieves in the world take stealing as a profession or a hobby.
So Don't make them think that you are rich and silly and not easy to get them punished.
Beijing in general is a safe city.
R.M.
I agree with R.M. I once had money taken from my wallet when I left my hotel room to go in the pool, taking only a towel and my room key. This was in a major US city. Obviously the thief watched for this kind of opportunity and was likely on the hotel staff. And by taking just the money and leaving the wallet, there was no incriminating evidence to trace the crime. I did not even discover the theft until much later when I had to pay for something in cash.
Lesson learned!
