Wooden Jewelry
Wooden Jewelry
Wood is among the oldest materials used for body piercing jewelery. It is a natural material sourced from different types of trees and can be shaped, polished, carved and refined in many forms. The use of wood in jewelry making has been practiced since the dawn of time. People of ancient civilizations adorned themselves with jewelery made of different natural materials as a form of status symbol or to ward off evil spirits. Wood can be easily carved and shaped into different forms. This is probably why wooden jewelery has always been tagged as native, tribal, and cultural.
Wood can be used to make earrings, bracelets, anklets, and necklaces. Aside from making jewelry in pure wood, wood beads can also be combined with other materials such as glass and plastic beads. They are assembled using nylon strings, threads, or elastic strings. Larger pieces of wood with unique shape and intricate grain patterns are made into pendants as is or glued to other materials like metal and clay.
Many species of trees provide material for wood beads. These include olive, sandalwood, bamboo, bayong, ebony, ironwood, palm, apple, pear, and rose, to name but a few. All of these types of wood have been used for beads either because the grain of the wood is beautiful or because the wood is aromatic.
Olive trees have a natural red grain that is wavy and the heart wood darkens and hardens with age to produce an elegant pattern. The heart wood comes from olive trees which are pruned each year after harvest and the pruned wood is used for decorative carvings and beads.
Sandalwood beads are light both in color and weight and they have a distinctive soothing aroma. Among Hindus, sandalwood is believed to bring clear perception to the wearer.
Rosewood is great for making beads, it is dark and heavy and dense and its grain appears in subtle lines of black and dark brown. Rosewood beads are said to strengthen the aura and ward away negative energy.
Wooden beads are cherished for a variety of reasons beside beauty and aroma. Some woods are prized because they are considered sacred like that of the bodhi tree, where the Buddha found enlightenment.
Most exotic wood beads originate in the middle-east or southern Asia, but Europe is also a source of wood beads, the Czech Republic produces inexpensive pine and bass wood beads for children’s toys or macramé crafters as well as inexpensive wood beads you’d find in bead shops worldwide.
Wood is one of the most natural and comfortable materials available in fashion jewelry making. Let us take advantage of their natural aesthetic value and add wooden jewelery a part of out jewelery box.