Measurements: approximately 5~10mm x 10mm wide
Quantity per pack: 1 Strand = 32cm (approximately 65 beads)
How unique! You will be receiving 1 strand of these unique fish bone vertebrae beads which will look exceptional in your jewellery or art pieces, especially tribal, ethnic, or ocean themed.
Use these tubular 'heishi cut' look beads to string as spacer beads between your other beads - their concave sides work really well when stringing - you are sure to make something fabulous using these bone beads. Otherwise, make them the feature - maybe a bracelet with a small wood bead here and there to balance it out. The organic material makes them perfect for all sorts of crafting and embellishing. Every single bead is different to the next - perfect for tribal jewellery, or art projects, homewares projects, embellishments etc. They are small, lightweight, and you can't get anything more natural than beads like these!
Little boys (and some of the girls) love a good shark tooth necklace - you can buy a couple of shark teeth and string them onto cord necklaces using these fish bone beads as decorations either side, maybe even add a few small wood beads. These are perfect for gifts for the children's friends, for birthday party favours, stocking fillers or Christmas presents. They can be worn in the pool or ocean on your various pieces of jewellery.
You might be surprised to know that with the bone material being porous, they can be used with essential oil and aromatherapy, as healing or uplifting carriers on your jewellery or decorations. It also easily absorbs natural dyes without using harsh chemical products to produce wonderful colours on the surface. Another thing to keep in your mind - the porous nature of these beads means that they will absorb perfumes and fragrances, even makeup and hairspray which may stain the natural colour of the beads. There are various ways to clean bone beads, so google this on the internet and find out more, if you need this information. If you have jewellery made from bone, it is recommended to store it in a soft pouch.
History -
Along with other natural objects like wood, feathers, shells, horn & quills, fish vertebra beads were also part of that list. As you may imagine, they were probably one of the first styles of beads back when humans began to adorn themselves with trinkets!
Often used as prayer beads, the earliest found in Britain (made from salmon) are dated to the 8th or 9th century, discovered off the coast of Northumberland in Britain. "Fish symbols were among the earliest identifiable symbols of Christianity, making fish bones a thematically appropriate material as well as a plentiful local resource for devotional jewelry." (thehistoryblog.com)
Other suppliers seems to source their vertebrae beads from Africa, however ours have been sourced from Indonesia. I feel that the people from Indonesia would not import such items, so I am going to be fairly confident to tell you these beads were made in Indonesia (however I could, of course, be incorrect in saying that!). Fish are in every ocean, of course, so really where isn't quite so important.
Using the bones of the fish is an excellent earth-friendly way of honouring the fish after it has been consumed - to be able to upcycle something as precious is a wonderful gift back to the world!
