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Synonymous with both fertility and feminism;  African waist beads are thought to originate among the Yoruba tribes of Africa – a significant proportion of the population of which, is now settled within Nigeria. Conversely, the tradition also extends to Western Africa, notably Ghana, where women perceive African waist beads to be both a sign of wealth/ aristocracy, and of femininity.

The Western fascination with African waist beads has been a long and debated one, with many of the impression they are purely worn to attract a mate’s attention. While there is some evidence to suggest this is true, the reasoning for the wearing of such adornments is actually far deeper, and goes back many hundreds of years.

Due to the sheer diversity of sub-tribes falling within the Yoruban categorization, there are many conflicting reports regarding the primary functionality of waist beads. The general consensus however, is that Yoruba people perceive glass beads to be the source of life, and ‘of the Earth’. It is perhaps unsurprising then, that the supernatural beliefs relating  to the wearing of beads for birth control, and as a source of protection to pregnant women, are still upheld today.

The more frequently discussed symbolism associated with African waist beads, is that of sensuality and seduction. Among the Yoruba tribes, the belief in superstition, spirit, and the energies of the Earth has lent itself to the magical properties of African trade beads and glass beads. Yoruban women are said to ‘lace’ beads with incantations, and symbolic charms, which assist in the persuasive powers they have over men. Brides lure their new husbands with the promising rattle of waist beads – however such behavior is also thought to be communicative of fertility, at certain times of the month.

Ghana, regarded as the ‘bead production capital of the World’, has held a long fascination with beads as both ornamental, and symbolic adornments. The wearing of waist beads among the Asante tribe is still a popular, and even fashionable trend today. Although modern belief tends to be limited to the aesthetic benefits of waist beads, some Asante tribeswomen still wear them as symbols of chastity, femininity and status indicators. Mostly, they are loved as a fashion item which cinches the waist, and accentuates the natural curvaceous figure of African women – a figure that most men instinctively find attractive anyway!

2009 was a very big year for Kenya-born jewelry artist Nasimiyu Wekesa.

Not only did she receive a feature-spread within several notable publications – she also enjoyed the exposure of her creations at New York’s ‘Couture’ Fashion Week that same year.

Nasimiyu has been living in the United States for the past fifteen years, yet much of her heart still belongs to Africa. Every aspect of her jewelry, which ranges from chunky, focal African trade bead necklaces; to delicate multi-strand collars featuring an infusion of Christmas and Kazuri beads, is designed befitting of the elegance of African women. She has a particular fascination with Kenyan beads.

Describing her bead creations as “an extension of her soul”, Nasimiyu’s childhood collection of Mali wedding beads, and Venetian trade beads is a wonder to behold. She describes the significance behind her collection as akin to the “history of her life”. Each bead or bead string has been gifted unto her, or a member of her family, and are regarded as part and parcel of the rites throughout life. These include coming of age, betrothal to a husband, marriage and family planning. “I am bringing back the path of the answers of life together, by stringing their past to the present.”

The achievement of her jewelry featuring alongside the haute couture creations of acclaimed designer Andres Aquino, has been well worth the self-confessed toils until 12a.m of a morning. Yet Nasamiyu’s motivations go far deeper than just reaping the rewards and recognition that personal success brings.

She is a staunch supporter, and ambassador of the Born To Aid Foundation – (which she herself founded) and continues to support by donating 10% of her profits, on a month-by-month basis. Set up to improve the lives of children afflicted by Aids, or having experienced the loss of a relative due to the disease; Nasamiyu hopes that the recognition she receives will further highlight the vital work that still needs to be done in Kenya.

Since her showcase in 2009, Nasimiyu has been reaping the benefits of the exposure, and creating more stunning pieces of African inspired jewelry. To her, this is not simply a fundraising drive, nor just a means to a living. It’s about maintaining the love and connection with her Kenyan homeland, and weaving a part of it’s history into every piece she makes!

When I started this blog, I told you why I love African beads. Well, now I am going to tell you about some of the most beautiful African beads.

West Africa is home to one of Africa’s largest beading industries. Ghana is known as one of the greatest producers of ethnic and tribal beads. Some of the most popular African beads, as well as glass trade beads, originate from West Africa. Here are five of the most common examples of West African beads.

Recycled Powder Glass Beads

Recycled glass beads are some of the most basic beads made in Ghana. They are made using the Powder Glass Bead method. The bead maker collects glass scrap, such as used Coca cola and beer bottles. They crush them, and use the glass to make these cool beads. For all of you environmentally conscious beaders out there, these are the beads for you!

Krobo Glass Beads

Krobo beads are made using a method very much like the method used to make Ghana recycled glass beads. The difference is that these beads are much more intricate, and are very often designed using paint as well. Krobo beads are made by the famous Krobo people of West Africa, and strands usually run anywhere from $16 to $30, depending on the age and design.

Baoule Brass Beads

Baoule are a type of brass beads made using the lost wax technique. They are made by the Baule tribe, known for their intricate methods of creating brass beads, jewelry, and pendants. The Baoule people originally descended from the Ashanti tribe in Ghana. These beads can often times be difficult to find, as their production is not consistent.

Bauxite Beads

Bauxite beads are made from Aluminum Ore. They are simple in design, but they give a certain vibe, especially when used in jewelry. Their natural look is often refreshing, when compared to other highly produced beads from West Africa.

Beads from Mali

Not quite up to the level of Ghana in terms of quantity of production, but Mali produces some very beautiful beads. The most sought after beads from Mali are their wedding beads, which are perhaps the most vibrant African beads on the market. They also produce some beautiful clay beads, and spindle whorl beads.

I hope you enjoy these beads. As always, I recommend shopping at The Bead Chest. They have a beautiful selection of African beads, unbelievable customer service, fast shipping…and, well, they’re just great. Here’s a tip: use coupon code 5OFFORDER during checkout to get an extra 5% off 🙂

On Monday evening, The Bead Chest, a leading retailer and wholesaler of African beads and trade beads, announced that it was undercutting DANNIJO’s price on Zula Trade Beads by over 90%.

DANNIJO’s Zula Trade Beads made their debut in the August 2010 issue of Seventeen Magazine, worn by Barbados-American pop star Rihanna. DANNIJO priced three strands of the glass snake beads at $595. The Bead Chest is selling each strand for approximately $20, costing you under $65 including shipping costs to the United States (they also ship international).

This is really an unbelievable deal, and we highly recommend any interested buyers jump on this before its too late! You can use AfricanBeads.org exclusive coupon code “5offblogorder” during checkout for an additional 5% off your order.

The Bead Chest carries a wide variety of African beads, trade beads, and antique beads, including an impressive selection of Recycled Glass Beads, Bone beads, and more.

African beads have been a source of exquisite beauty around the world for generations. The primary reason for this can be attributed to Africa’s diverse array of natural resources.

The following are some common types of beads made from materials found in various parts of Africa.

Seed and Nut beads are easy to find and make and are found in nearly all African communities. The seeds provide a wide range of colors and textures. They are easy to manipulate. You can soak seeds overnight to soften them, and then use wire or string to put them together. Nut beads can be used as centerpieces for beadwork.

Shell and bone beads are made from cowry shells to ostrich egg shells. These African beads make fine jewelry pieces. They are usually used to adorn clothing items such as African shirts and give them an authentic look.

Tusk and teeth beads are now rare to find, but they make beautiful white or cream beads, though tusk beads are more fragile than other types of beads.

Stone and metal beads were uncommon in Africa for many centuries due to lack of the proper tools to make them, but once they discovered them, these made the most durable of beads.

Glass and clay beads are two types of African beads that give good quality adornments, and they are easy to use and can be combined to make more brilliant pieces.

Ceramic and bamboo beads are ideal for smooth pieces of beads that come in cool pastel colors. They can be made to decorate household pieces like lampshades and tea cozies.

Bone and horn beads  – Bones have been a common bead material. The Elk rib bones were the first material for the long, tubular beads. Presently, these beads are usually made of water buffalo and bison bones.

Chevron beads – These are special glass beads, formerly made for trade in the New World and the slave trade in Africa by African glassmakers. They are made of many successive layers of colored glass. Original beads which were made for trade to the New World as well as Africa were usually made of green, white, red and blue layers.

Ethnic African beads – These beads are made in West Africa. Some examples include Nigerian and Ghanaian powder glass beads, and Mauritanian Kiffa beads.

Lampwork beads  are made by using a torch to heat a rod of glass. The resulting thread is spun around a metal rod that is covered in bead release. After the base bead is formed, other colors of glass can be added to the surface creating many designs.

Perhaps some of the most beautiful African beads are the Millefiori trade beads. These beads, known for their beautiful flower design, are sought after by collector’s around the world. Because Millefiori beads are all handmade, each and every bead is unique and one of a kind, making these beads extremely collectible.

Millefiori beads have several different names:

• Mosaic beads
  These beads are typically ornate. Mosaic beads are made with colorful fused segments of glass cane ( long drawn rods of glass).
• Love beads
  This name was used mostly during the hippie era in the ’60’s and ’70’s. Very rarely are Millefiori beads called “love beads” today. Perhaps because other African beads have adopted the name of Love Beads.
• Trade beads
  Because Millefiori beads are the most popular form of trade beads, many people simply call them trade beads.

Millefiori beads are created with many layers of vibrant, colorful glass fused together in cross sections and then plastered onto the surface of the bead. The surface of Millefiori beads can have all sorts of designs ranging from abstract patterns, to flowers and faces.

You can buy Millefiori beads here.

Some of the most beautiful bone beads come from Africa. African bone beads are very often dyed using a process known as batik. These Batik bone beads from Africa are beautiful when used in necklaces and even bracelets.

Made in Ghana, Africa, batik bone beads are typically strung on raffia, but you can easily cut and break up strands and use the loose beads in the jewelry you create. African bone beads are also beautiful worn as is, on the raffia string.

They come in all different designs such as star, zebra, striped, traditional, arrow, and many more. These beads typically run for $13 – $40 a strand, depending on the age, design, condition, and availability. You can get your African bone batik beads here.

When researching African beads, you will find that different styles and designs of beads originate and are produced in different parts of Africa.

Krobo beads, also known as powder glass beads, are typically produced by craftsmen and women of Krobo and Ashanti tribes, living in Ghana. Krobo bead making is first documented in the 1920’s, but the practice is believed to be much older. Other bead making practices date to earlier periods.

The beads are made in a particular way. Locally dug clay is used and formed to make molds; each mould holds a single bead. Finely ground glass is then layered into the mould, which is kept upright, to form patterns. The process can be compared to filling a glass jar with coloured sand.

Once the mould is filled, it is fired in a wood burning kiln, also made of local clay. Different glass coarseness, as well as the type of glass used, produces different effects once fired.

Beads can be pierced shortly after production to allow threading, or are produced in halves and fired together for a short time to fuse the two pieces. A glass slurry glaze can be used to decorate the beads. Another process gives beads the appearance of opaque or translucent colouring.

Originally, scrap glass was used to produce the beads, however, particular glass from certain products are often sourced out in modern production. Creativity on behalf of the craftsmen, through the use of new materials and methods, has led to new designs and trends of krobo beads.

Below is the transcription of a Youtube video I enjoyed which talked about African Kazuri beads in Kenya, and how the industry is doing there. The link to the original video is at the bottom of the post. Enjoy!

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If there is one thing that women love, it is to be different, to stand out, and to have accessories that place them at the center of attraction. In recent years, the bulk of women’s accessories in Kenya have been beaded necklaces, of all shapes and sizes, colors and designs.

“Kenyans are very fashion conscious, as we know. So whatever is happening in Paris or in New York, they want to be part of it.  We are seeing a trend in certain colors and if you look around, you will see contemporary women wearing those. You’ll see a trend towards layering; layering of clothes, different layers, and that’s also reflected in jewelry, and you’ll see women wearing layered clothes, lots of long chains and jewelry. You see that as well, Kenyan’s wearing that. Big earrings, there’s a trend in that. So yeah, people are very switched on.”

Monda African art shop has grown to backup this fashion craze. Carol, our creative director and a trained designer, knows what fashions become more demanding, and consumers become more demanding and sophisticated by the day.

“I got a scholarship to go to Ghana, to study beads, or to study African art, and while I was there they had a lot of heritage of beadwork: they make beads, they wear beads, so that’s where my interest was peaked.”

Silver, gold, and diamonds may still rule the world, but these humble ethnic tastes are timeless, and carry with them, an African story, a target market, and their culture. And designers are making a living out of it.

Dr. Piety Goes (Kazuri Bead Factory): “We saw that Africa is becoming popular, more popular over the past two decades. The change from the old, traditional gold and silver jewelry to new, innovative, new styles jewelry made by some of the brand names in the world. We at Kazuri believe that we are a brand to reckon with.

Kazuri, which means small and beautiful in Swahili, began in 1979 as a tiny rock shop doing handmade beads. Now, it has become a thriving industry that makes the lives of about 300 women. The motto behind this factory was to create employment for single mothers who were in need for regular employment.

Dr. Piety Goes: “At Kazuri here, we actually look at, on improving on the lifestyles of our women. Our mission is actually to employ single mothers of single parenthood who have no income. At the moment we have about 300+ and you can only improve from there. We started with some two people 35 years ago. We are now 300+ as I said earlier, and we can only improve from there. And yes, we can make a difference in the economy but other stakeholders in other industries also need to play their parts to make the economy vibrant.”

Like it is in several small-scale businesses in Africa, the artistic skills are here to fully transform the craftsmen’s lives due to the informal structure of the market as well as exploitation by middle-men.

Roselyne Egosangwa (Ecosandals Limited): “What we do is just deal with our customers direct, because middlemen always exploit the market.”

With this, and the fact that markets abroad offer better returns, companies like Ecosandals, a Kenyan company, have moved online to get in the international market with their leather sandals.

Roselyne Egosangwa: “The present world is a digital world. That is why we decided to go online cause that’s the only way you can reach the far-end market, like the Western and global.”

The beading industry in Kenya has employed women, especially those from the areas with less privilege. It is a craft that doesn’t require skills.

Female Kenyan beading craftswomen: “I have worked here for a long time, managed to take my children to school, as well as buy a piece of land.”

Like any other business, challenges are there in this industry. From high taxation, competition, and even counterfeits.

Carol Monda (Monda African Art Shop): “One would be high tax on imported beads cause for example, the pound beads or what you call Masai beads are imported from Czechoslavakia or from the Czech Republic as well as from India. There’s taxes on that. Leather is taxed, because it’s bead on leather.”

Dr. Piety Goes: “To begin with, the jewelry that’s imported would cost 20% of the products that we sell ourselves. We still need to be competitive. We need to be creative with our colors and designs to be better than the imitation jewelry.”

Treasured by the communities and adored through the years, the bead as an everyday adornment is threatened. All the players hope that the beading culture be kept alive, as it is not only a business venture, but a story of a rich culture that may be threatened by modernization.

Watch the Video

African love beads, also known as African Christmas beads or peace beads, are small colorful czech-made beads. They are inexpensive, and come in a few different sizes.

Love beads are imported from Ghana, Africa, and symbolize peace and goodwill. Strands measure from 24″ to 48″. These beads are fun to play with. Each strand carries a few hundred beads which can be used for multiple projects, as spacers, or simply worn as is. I must note though, if you wear them as is, it is traditional to wear two or more strands at a time.