Jewellery

There is jewellery on this website sourced primarily in Hawaii, Samoa and Bali,Indonesia. There are many items of shell jewellery - shell earrings, shell pendans, shell chokers, timber and beads with shell jewellery.

The Hawaiian jewellery I sell consists mainly of silver bangles that are carved with their traditional jewellery design of ferns and flowers. These echo the flowers and foliage of the Hawaiian islands. There are also several other items including some shell jewellery - in particular, cowrie shell chokers. These are hand sewn on leather or hessian strips.

The Samoan jewellery is handmade from palm fronds and coconut shell. These earrings and bangles are made in the villages of Samoa and give the women in these very poor villages perhaps their only income. Samoa is still almost a third world country with subsistence farming and a very communal way of life. The jewellery is generally sold in the craft and produce markets in Apia, on Upolu. Some of the jewellery is very fine, detailed work and some is more primitive but all sales will help these people.

The jewellery from Bali consists mainly of shell jewellery. Not surprisingly, since this is a pretty small island and also pretty much third world, they take advantage of the available materials. There is extreme poverty, a large population and very low wages so that the shell jewellery is produced in bulk for very good prices. They make shell earrings, necklaces and pendants of all sorts. They mix wooden and glass beads of all types and colours with the shell jewellery - making some very different designs. They also have a real tradition of gold and silver jewellery manufacturing. The silver jewellery on my site was mostly made especially for me, not just mass-produced. These will not be found anywhere else, are unique.
There are also some pretty frangipani necklaces, bracelets and matching earrings which are made in Bali.