Would You Buy a Nameless Bead?

Back in July I was browsing through one of my favorite bead haunts telling myself over & over to get home while I still had some money. But on my way out, I saw some strands of gemstones I hadn't noticed before. I have no self control about beads, so I began looking through the hanging strands. Wow! This strand of wonderful rich olive green dazzling with pearlescence caught my eye. The beads were each uniquely & irregularly shaped... and I guess the new phrase is "organic looking," yet beautifully faceted & highly polished. But the flashes of color that bounced off the surfaces as I turned the stones are impossible to describe. And they were expensive! And they were unlabeled! And even the owner didn't know what these unusual gemstones were. Feel free to guess!! Any gemologists out there? Because computer monitors show colors differently, let me emphasize that the main color in the stones is olive green. The only other color is black in lines through the stones. Also, the expensive strand had 2 broken stones. The unpolished mineral inside the break had many tiny specks of sparkle, which I think would polish up beautifully when faceted, accounting for the pearlescence, in my opinion. The stones range from very dark olive (almost black) to medium-light olive. They are completely opaque.

Nameless or not, I fell in love with these stones & couldn't wait to wrap them in herringbone weave of antiqued Sterling silver wire.
Then I made these earrings with olive green crystals, also wrapped in herringbone -- a really nice match, I think. Obviously I was in a very herringbone mood.


I will learn from this experience IF BEAUTY HAS VALUE. Or maybe it only has value if it has a well-respected label. Since I spent significant money on nameless beautiful stones with no hesitation, my opinion is obvious. I hope I was right :) Take an anonymous poll on the right & tell us what you think.