Mayagems & Beads...

WHAT IS A BEAD? A pretty object with a hole in the middle that is used as adornment. Costs anything from 1c to $10,000. Used to purchase everything from coconuts to gold and slaves. Now undergoing massive fashion resurgence.

Once upon a very long time ago, a man was probably walking along a beach when he found a pretty shell with a hole in it. “Hey,” he said, “this would look really cool if I put a piece of seaweed through it and hung it around my neck for good luck. Maybe it'll protect me from being eaten by a shark when I'm fishing.” A bit later, after this man had told a friend about his success in the ocean since wearing the necklace – which he'd renamed Amulet - his friend said, “Hey, how about trading that cool lucky bead Amulet for my stupid boat that never catches me any fish?” “Done deal!” said Man no 1, who then traded the stupid leaky boat, and another shell on some seaweed, for a new beach hut. And perhaps Man no 2 traded his Lucky Amulet for a fishing line or even a new wife - who one day walked out with all his jewellery and did a roaring trade at the local market.

Ever since then, beads have been used as currency. And we've got them by the bowl, the bunch & the bottle. Beads as old as pre-history, as new as last week in Varanasi, still hand made with age old traditions. Our gem stones are all hand cut, our silver may be as old and crinkled as the hills. We don't sell beads you'll find anywhere else. We don't sell findings, crystal, resin or plastic. Instead, we scour the globe to bring you beads that have their own history and place in culture. So you too can have a piece of “once more wearable art”. Made by ourselves, or by you, if you're in a creative mood.

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