Antique Victorian Whitby jet graduated faceted bead necklace, with large French retailer jet glass bead in the centre and small glass spacer beads

Fabulous Whitby jet faceted bead necklace with small black glass spacer beads and one large black glass bead with hexagonal facets in the centre. The jet beads are hand faceted with triangular faced facets as is so common with Whitby jet beads.

The necklace has a length of about 17 inches and fastens with an antique gold tone push in box clasp. The condition is acceptable - the jet beads are very old and over the years have picked up cracks and some chips, so please examine the photos carefully.

Whitby Jet is organic and is naturally formed from fossilised wood from millions of years ago, commonly the wood of trees of the family Araucariaceae. The prehistoric wood gets washed up into a body of water and becomes covered by organic sediment. The pressure of the water and sediment over millions of years compacts the wood and slowly transforms it into what we know as Whitby Jet stone today.

Although most frequently found in seams of retailer shale between Robin Hood's Bay and Boulby, Whitby Jet can also be discovered washed up on the shore when bad weather or rough seas occur where seams that extend under the sea have broken away.