Could it be obsidian? Maybe rainbow obsidian?

eBay item 251675253006

How I love the way eBay can be mined for examples.

This one was awhile ago, back in August - item 201155830881

Remind me again - wasn't this kind of stuff a 1980s-90s sort of thing?

Wondering if perhaps it is not stone, but cat's eye glass. They are also called fiber optic beads, but I am not sure that is an accurate name.

Cat's eye is often sold as if it is stone, but it is not. It is not molded, like most glass beads, but I think it is shaped and cut like stones, using lapidary techniques.

Then again, it is difficult to tell from the pictures.

these are a typical irregular carved organic Chinese shape from the 1970s whose name i dont know and have never found- there was a time when there were many turquoise bead necklaces with beads of these shapes. -sort of rounded elongated or twisted tetrahedrons or a bit like pomegranate fruit pips?
i would doubt they are glass, otherwise they would be moulded and identical shapes.

The production process must be very technical, but under magnification the glass is a mass of fine, parallel bundled rods, most likely a by-product of the fiberoptic cable industry.

I recollect when I first bought a few large cabochons of this material from some small Russian table in Tucson the cutter explained that it was military glass; likewise some guy in Idaho, as my faulty memory recalls, said the red-brown variant of the glass was used in tank turret lasers.

It was me who said they might be cat's eye, which is a type of fiberoptic glass. This glass is cut, carved and polished like stone, and can be harder to distinguish from stone. Not saying it is the case here, as most seem to agree it is rainbow obsidian.

Chris,
I think the carnelian ball beads were made on what is called a ball mill, most of the ball beads being made in China have been made this way for years. I did see them making ball beads one at a time with turquoise in very rural China in 1987, they were using a spinning metal tube and dribbling abrasive with on hand and turning the bead with the other, worked quite well but slow going.

Regarding the chatoyant stone, it looks like your guess rainbow obsidian.

All my best ......... Danny

My guess on the age of the piece 1980

I should have specified that I didn't mean the round beads, which of course were likely produced via a ball mill. It must have been some creaky old mill, though, because the shapes and polish are not as perfect as beads from Idar Oberstein or later production of more modern factories. Which bit of ruggedness also makes them more tactile and visually appealing, I think.

I love the whole design, the bright kingfisher blue and the carnelian. I was on a big blue/turquoise and orange kick just before I had to wrap everything up and start packing.

I wish I had my studio unpacked, I am so hungry to make stuff!!! So far I've found my tools, about half my beads, some stringing wire and half my findings.....

about the blue enamel beadcaps, that possibly were made to imitate older kingfisher feather pieces
I think the tech of making this blue enamel in chinese is called shao lan which literally means burning blue

I use Google Translate to read Chinese websites about cloisonne, and of course the computer translation can be a bit rocky.
Your explanation of shao lan explains why the process of heating in a kiln to melt the enamel is often translated as "bluing."

Certain other terms also get mysteriously translated as "fetal copper," "tires," "silk" - it's fun tracking down the specific characters and learning about the clusters of meanings they can possess.

Not so fun has been reading about what went on in China during the 150 years from 1830 to 1980. Tragedies beyond imagination. I'd say the average American citizen has about zero knowledge of this appalling history. The fact that artisans managed to continue producing traditional crafts during these decades is just plain incredible. The Chinese seem to have preserved cloisonne craftsmanship despite all odds against them, and are the only ones to keep making attractive cloisonne beads.