Just imagine what you could do with these beads; they’re not only useful ingredients for astute beaders, but they’re also very colourful, and versatile, and there are plenty of them.
This collection of approximately 180 multicoloured semi-precious howlite stone disc beads are the perfect ingredients when creating stylish statement jewellery – be it ethnic, tribal, boho, or simply plain jane - be it a necklace, a bracelet, or a pair of eye-catching earrings.
Colours include turquoise, blue, red, yellow, orange, black, white, natural, and green. The beads are carved in China.
Some people call them rondelles, others call them washer beads, saucers, or button beads, or filler beads – while others simply refer to them as spacer beads or flat discs. Regardless - they're essentially all the same.
Howlite is a versatile semi-precious stone that was first discovered along Canada’s eastern seaboard province of Nova Scotia back in the mid-1850s.
It can also be found in the United States (California and Nevada), Mexico, Russia, Germany, Turkey, Serbia, and a handful of African countries, among others.
In its raw state, the stone is milky white or pale grey in colour, porous in texture, and contains a series of fine black veins running throughout, which makes it look like a spider's web.
Over the years natural howlite has been known by a number of curious names including snow leopard, white buffalo, or white turquoise.
These days the stone is often dyed to make it look like other semi-precious stones such as dyed green to resemble turquoise, blue to look like lapis lazuli, or red to be passed off as coral – which is why the mineral has been frequently referred to as a ‘fake or imitation’ stone.
But regardless, howlite has become the perfect stone to make decorative objects, carvings, or quirky jewellery components such as this collection of washers.
As for healing qualities, the Crystal Council claims howlite is a stone of emotional healing that contains vibrations directly resonating with one’s root and crown chakras.