Beaded jewelry

by Bina Saji

Whether your style is hip-hop, casual, trendy or formal. There is myriad scope for beaded jewellery which appeals to people in every age group. Doesn’t matter whether you are six years, sixteen, in your thirties or even sixties – beads belong to everyone. Depending on the occasion and your style – beads are suited for everyone.

Whether it is the silky, smooth, handcrafted original native American Heishi necklaces or the rare, high-priced black pearl strings or the pretty colorful glass bracelet, which costs just 2$ – they all have one thing in common – they are all beads! Beads are beautiful, exciting and come in several shapes and sizes ranging from large beads to tiny seed beads (like the seed pearls). Different shapes too – oblong, oval, round and everything in between sometimes even rounded square shapes. Beads are in vogue – from fashion magazines, offices and beaches- everyone is sporting beaded jewellery.

Beaded Jewelry some facts

Whether your style is hip-hop, casual, trendy or formal. There is myriad scope for beaded jewellery which appeals to people in every age group. Doesn’t matter whether you are six years, sixteen, in your thirties or even sixties – beads belong to everyone. Depending on the occasion and your style – beads are suited for everyone. For office wear, team a grey suit with pink pearls or co-ordinate your favorite cut-offs with a glass bead anklet – any style, any event – you can’t go wrong with beads! Now even men can be seen wearing chunky bead neck pieces or bracelets at the beach or even at fashion events – beads as accessories are fast becoming favorites and very much in vogue right now! Even body-piercing jewellery are beads.

Beaded Jewelry history

Beads are not new to the world of jewellery. In fact the oldest form of ornamentation was beads. Man picked up stones, bones and shells – smoothened the edges to give it shape; pierced it and threaded it with string to make it a neck piece. Pretty, colorful necklaces were worn by women and the men preferred wearing the bones of animals hunted by them. The native Americans smoothened and polished the beads to make the beautiful heishi strands that feel like silk. Beads have always been in fashion – beads were bartered and even used as money by the native Americans.

Black beads are said to ward off the evil eye and in India , the first piece of jewellery a child – as young as 3 months wears is a black bead bracelet or necklace. This is said to protect the child from negative vibes. The traditional mangalsutra (or the wedding necklace) in India – is specially designed with small black beads on gold wires. In some regions of India , corals are beaded to make the mangalsutra chain. In many other cultures beads are worn as talismans – sometimes a single bead is strung and tied as an armlet for protection.

Beads can be affordable or expensive, this could be a part of the reason they are liked by the masses and the classes. Since beads are available in a variety of materials from paper, glass to precious metals like silver and gold – it is possible for people to buy beaded jewellery depending on their budget. Beaded jewellery is the first piece of jewellery most children learn to make at school with paper balls or readymade beads. Prices of beaded jewellery range from a few dollars to several thousand dollars. There are beaded options for all price ranges and to suit all incomes.

Beaded Jewelry – Many designs

Beaded jewellery can be handcrafted, machine-made or even natural beads (such as pearls) strung together on a thread. In fact , making beaded jewellery is so easy that many creative people wear their own handcrafted beaded jewellery which gives them two advantages – it is cheaper than buying from a store and they get one-of-a kind pieces – which no one else probably has! Creating your own beaded jewellery requires just your imagination and simple items like clasps, string and readymade beads. Plenty of designs and tips are available on the internet.

Beads can be made from a variety of materials – both natural and man-made to create interesting, attractive and unique bracelets, armlets, anklets, necklaces etc. Most designers prefer to use beads to enhance the look of the main pendant or the centerpiece, especially in necklaces. Beads can be made of almost any material – paper, wood, stone, semi-precious gems, metals like brass and precious metals like gold and silver.

Machine-made or handcrafted – beaded jewellery in both, is widely offered for sale. Machine-made beaded jewellery is much cheaper since it is mass produced and is mainly acrylic, wood, plastic, glass and some cheaper colored gemstones which are churned out of the machines in large quantities. The advantage is that all are identical, cheap and great for home projects. The handcrafted beaded jewellery is mainly in silver, gold, precious and semi-precious gems. Silver beaded jewellery combined with red, blue green stones is often more affordable and can be bought off the street (although the silver used may not be 100% pure) and looks great with casual wear.

The higher priced handcrafted beaded jewellery is available in pure silver with precious gems, gold (18K or 22K) with precious gems or gold pendants. These are intricately beaded and some are even carved to make each piece unique. Designers of handcrafted jewellery also claim that no two pieces are ever alike, since absolute perfection is impossible in handcrafted jewellery. Also highly priced are the rarer natural pearl strands in uncommon colors like pink, lilac, silver, black etc.

So, whether you are young or old, man or woman, rich or not-so-rich, beads are for everyone. Get some beads and add to your style!.