Stunning combos of black horn and white bone, so contemporary, yet made of some of the earliest materials ever used for beads! 16mm diameter
They are lightweight and have a glossy finish. I see lots of potential for these in necklaces or bracelets mixed with other black or white beads.
And what about hanging one, or more, of these beads on a fine chain for earring that shows off the full cross section of the beads?
Due to the organic nature of the materials and hand-made process, there will be slight variations in diameter and thickness of the beads.
For a larger size see ORB-247 or for a smaller size see ORB-251
Similar to creating wood or even glass mosaics, longer segments of the black horn and white bone are cut, sanded and tightly fitted to form a rod. This is ground down until the edges are smooth. It is then sliced, and more work goes into grinding and polishing the slices into beautiful rondells.
Artists in the Philippine communities where these beads originate, have been honing their skills for generations, tuning humble materials like bone, shell, horn, wood and even buffalo hooves into beads.
Their work has been had to find in recent years and I'm glad to be able to offer you these examples.
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