Like Nora Ephron I too 'feel bad about my neck' and that is why, avid bead collector that I am, I seldom wear my beloved beads as necklaces, which are mostly enjoyed as a collector's strand. Instead I choose to wear my beads as bracelets. This also has the advantage of the beads being visible to me as well as drawing the eyes of any keen onlookers though, sadly this has not often been the case. Guess people here only go for gem stones and don't appreciate "faded beauties" like my age-old beads.
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| More than 2 dozen bracelets |
Below I will highlight some favorites in my bead bracelets wardrobe. First I will show the reds mostly of carnelians strung with some agates and coral spacers. These beads date from 500 to thousands of years old. The etched ones are mostly from Myanmar.
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| Carnelians from Myanmar, Indonesia and Vietnam |
Carnelians mixed with crystals and glass is also favoured by me
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| Dazzling Reds |
Top most bracelet features a large hexagonal carnelian bead, faceted crystals and dusky red glass beads all from Vietnam. Bottom left bracelet is Chinese in origin. The carnelian and turquoise disc beads are probably Xizhou (1046-256BC) while the dogbone shape crystal is also from some early Chinese dynasty. All the faceted carnelians on right bracelet are antique beads from Indonesian.
Green and shades of green, blue green are also what I collect and wear.
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| Greenstone and carnelian |
Bracelet on the left composed of greenstone and carnelian beads from Myanmar. On the right, central bead from China, mixed with greenstone beads from Myanmar including 2 elephants.
The mix of stone and glass beads shown below are from Myanmar and neighboring Vietnam.
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| Stone and glass beads |
Yellow is not one of my favorite colors but I have a couple of bracelets in Van Gogh yellows to cheer a dull day.
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| Very Van Gogh (I wish!) |
On the left the central yellow bead with red and green flowers is Venetian and reminds me of Van Gogh's colors. The two beads with red dots, next to the central bead, come from Lhasa, the top of the world while the small plain yellow disc beads are from Indonesia. Quite an international combination for this bracelet. On the right are African trade beads with fancy names many of which I cant recall except for the two French cross beads.
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| French cross beads |
The next one is a recent acquisition. I think its made of quartz and carnelian, carved in ribbed segments. Not sure about the age and vintage but comes from Zhejiang, China.
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| Barrel shape beads carved in ribbed segments |
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| Agates are my favourite stones
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Kashmir may be famous for its houseboats and picturesque scenery but it also home to a large variety of semi precious stones. My next bracelet is composed from amethyst, moonstone, quartz and agates from my long ago trip to Kashmir.
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| Semi-precious stones from Kashmir |
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| Beads in my bead bracelet wardrobe, come from all over the globe ! (o that rhymes :)) |
