Collection: Out of Thailand

Our collection comprises a selection of almost 50 types of bone beads, which are hand-made throughout Asia - in particular, Thailand and the Indian sub-continent.

All have simple, but very distinctive African inspired designs which have been applied to the bone through a process known as batik.

Once the bead has been shaped, cleaned and bleached, the raw bone surface is ready for the batik process. Skilled craftsmen and women then hand-carve or paint a design with a hot solution of clear bees wax.

This wax is essential to the process because of its ability to, not only penetrate the pores of the bone surface which forms the required impenetrable barrier called a ‘resist’, but once dried, also allows the non-waxed areas of the bone to be tinted to a colour of choice. Finally, a lacquer sealant is applied which completes the batik process.

Our beads are ready to be used to create North American warrior-style choker necklaces, Indian breast plates and costumes.

They are also perfect for those keen on creating tribal or ethnic-style jewellery - including necklaces, bracelets, earrings and ankle bangles.

Also – they make the perfect ingredients for art and craft projects, for teaching, counting, or simply for creating something stylish – like Boho or Vintage.

The Thai people also work extensively with silver.

The silver beads are handcrafted by the extremely creative Hill Tribe people living in the mountains of northern Thailand.

The Hill Tribe peoples use pure silver which comes exclusively from Vietnam.

This particular silver has a content value of between 99 per cent and 99.9 per cent.

Because the silver content is so high, the material is more pliable and workable for the simple and crude hand-tools used by the Hill tribes to create their master pieces.

Nothing is mass produced here – the beads are all hand-made.

Sterling Silver (which has a silver content of 92.5 per cent and 7.5 per cent copper) is unsuitable for the Hill tribe crafts people because of its hardness and susceptibility to tarnishing.

So, because the Hill Tribe silver contains no additives – it will tarnish a lot slower than its sister silver - Sterling Silver.