Vintage bangle bracelet Bakelite help please

[marb1eman]

A couple years ago I sold a necklace on ebay I was positive was Bakelite but it never tested positive using 409 or simichrome.  In my listing I put that I was fairly certain it was Bakelite, but then gave the results of my tests.  Sold the End of Day necklace for $20 to someone who was willing to take a chance on it being Bakelite.  The person who bought it ended up being very knowledgable about Bakelite and said it was indeed Bakelite.  We both knew she got a great deal, with both of us having different emotions because of it. . .

Now I have something similar and would like your input.

Photos show a bangle bracelet made out of heavy plastic, and I know for certain it is vintage.  Like the old necklace I had I was certain this bangle was Bakelite, but it does not test as being Bakelite.  Any help would be great.

Thank you in advance,

Mrs. Marbleman

[old.crows.nest]

The blistering seems off for Bakelite.

Are the walls of the inside of the bracelet straight?

If so, is there any slight texture on those walls?

[flipping_treasures]

I agree with OCN, the blistering is something I would not expect to see on bakelite.

[dream*peddler]

If not Bakelite, possibly laminated Lucite?

[marb1eman]

Thank you for your reply and questions.

When you see the bracelet with your naked eye those dots look like sparkles.  They are flat and smooth and not blistered up from the surrounding area -- which is why I wanted to make sure I got a good picture of them for you to see because they are so odd.

My husband used to work in the plastics industry years ago and said those dots look as though they were injected throughout those sections of the bracelet.  He is usually good with guessing whether something is Bakelite or not, and he thought this bracelet was Bakelite.  But like me he has been wrong before.

The inside walls of the bracelet are straight and have a very slight pattern that looks like someone sanded the inside while spinning it around.

Thank you again for your reply.  Any additional information or questions you may have to help me would be greatly appreciated.

Mrs. Marbleman

[old.crows.nest]

I read a long while back on a Bakelite ID Site that because Bakelite Bracelets are made from tubes the inner wall will always be straight. I also read that the inside of Bracelets have an uneven Orange Peel like texture. Every Bakelite Bracelet I have found that has tested genuine has met these conditions.

Have you tried the sniff test?

[old.crows.nest]

Are you on Facebook?

[marb1eman]

The inside of this bracelet is definitely straight.  Tomorrow I'll dig out a couple other Bakelite bracelets I own and see if I can pick up the Orange Peel pattern and compare to this bracelet. 

I have never been able to create enough heat rubbing my fingers on Bakelite to make it give off the scent I know it should have, and I don't know if doing anything else with it -- like running it under hot water would be safe to do.  Plus it might be that my sense of smell is no good for testing that way, since no Bakelite has ever smelled like formaldehyde to me.  Is there a good/safe way to do the smell test?  I could try it and have my husband check it out (here honey, smell this for me!).

Sorry, I am not on any social media pages.  Is there something I might be able to see or read somewhere that I'd need that type of account to access?

Thank you, again, for all your help.  I really appreciate you taking your time to help me!

Mrs. Marbleman

[flipping_treasures]

You can put your piece in a zip lock bag, close it and put it in hot water.  Give it a few minutes and then unzip the bag and smell.  Sometimes that will help.  You might look up fakelite.  It was produced in China back in the 90s and seems to have a following all of it's own now.