Multi-gemstone heishi and designer mix strands

A whole palette on one string, cut in Jaipur.

A strand of these lies flat in the palm like a stack of small coins, discs of four and five millimeters set on edge. Carnelian orange, then pale chalcedony, then the apple green of chrysoprase, then amethyst, then moonstone that shifts blue when you tilt it, then a bead of opal. The plan repeats down the string. Makers reach for them because one strand carries a whole palette, and a bracelet can be strung and knotted in an afternoon.

Where it comes from

Heishi, pronounced hee shee, means shell bead in the Eastern Keresan language of the Santo Domingo Indians. The beads themselves are small discs and tubes, made of shell or of ground and polished stone, and they come from the Kewa Pueblo people of New Mexico, formerly Santo Domingo Pueblo, who worked them before that people used metal in jewelry. The oldest known specimens go back to around 6000 BCE, though the same technique of grinding and polishing was used in northern Africa some thirty thousand years earlier, with ostrich eggshell. Modern heishi is commonly mass-produced by machine. Our strands come from Jaipur, where cutting rooms keep the remainders from larger orders and string them into mixes, and we choose them strand by strand here in Cupertino.

What tradition says

There is an old idea, passed along as tradition rather than fact, that wearing many stones together spreads their luck around, so that no single bead carries the whole weight. Whatever you make of that, the habit of mixing is old and widespread. Traditional Tibetan necklaces set dzi beads among coral, and sometimes amber and turquoise as well, and the dzi have long been prized as protective amulets, held to bring the wearer spiritual benefit. In Ghana and across West Africa, aggry glass beads were strung into necklaces and bracelets in much the same spirit, several kinds worn as one. A mixed strand sits in that long line.

These are beliefs people have held about the stone, told as tradition. They are not claims, and not advice.

How makers use it

The 4 to 5mm heishi is the workhorse. Strung on cord it makes a flat, flexible bracelet that sits close to the wrist, and one strand covers the whole piece without any planning of color. Beginners and bracelet makers like it for exactly that, and kit sellers buy heishi by the strand and split it. The large tyre mixes bring in lapis, amazonite, pink opal, and sunstone, in fewer and heavier beads. Look for a repeating color plan, even sizing, and no filler padding out the count. The tag lists every stone, and it is worth reading species by species rather than going by color.

Looking after it

A mixed strand is only as tough as its softest bead, and here that is opal, around 5.5 to 6 on the Mohs scale. Keep these away from ultrasonic cleaners, household chemicals, and long soaks. Wipe them with a soft dry cloth, and store them where harder beads cannot rub against them.

Sources: Heishe, Trade beads, Early History of Jewelry: Ancient Times to the 17th Century - International Gem Society, Native American jewelry